Smugglers 3: The Beginning Is The End
by Gage39
Summary: Optimus, Ratchet, and Prowl finally learn the truth about Bumblebee's horrific accident all those years ago and Bulkhead's part in it.  Things get complicated when they run into the bot responsible and the Decepticons. Warning: Character death-Final story
1. Prologue: First Meetings

Smugglers 3: The Beginning Is The End

Prologue: First Meetings

On the planet Bionic at a small outdoor café, sitting at a table sipping energon was a big, green mech. His name was Bulkhead and he hailed from a small energon farm on Cybertron. Recently graduated from the Autobot Academy as a space bridge technician, he had been assigned to Bionic as their space bridge wasn't working and no one had been able to figure out why. Bulkhead didn't know what they expected him to do but here he was.

Taking another sip of energon Bulkhead was brought out of his reverie by the sound of shouting and weapons fire. Startled, he turned and his optics widened in shock. A bright yellow minibot with black stripes ran past him, then turned around and ran back. Grabbing Bulkhead's energon from the startled green mech he downed it, then said, "Thanks," and disappeared down the street. Seconds later three police bots appeared.

"Did you see a yellow minibot bot go this way?" one of them demanded.

Optics wide, Bulkhead nodded, pointing towards a side street. The police bots nodded in thanks then went the way he had indicated. Bulkhead watched them go and decided that perhaps it would best if he vacated the premises before the police bots discovered that he had sent them on a wild goose chase.

By the next day Bulkhead had stopped worrying that he was going to get arrested and had almost completely forgotten about the events of the day before. Almost.

"Hey," a voice said from behind him.

Startled, Bulkhead turned to see the minibot from yesterday standing behind him. Bulkhead was so shocked that he dropped the box of spare parts for the space bridge that he had been in the middle of loading on the ship. "Ouch!" he yelped as the box landed on his pede, causing him to hop up and down on one pede as he tried to stop his other one from hurting.

The minibot chuckled in amusement. "You're a little clumsy, aren't you?" he asked.

"Just a little," Bulkhead admitted.

The yellow bot winced as Bulkhead crashed into a stack of boxes, knocking them and himself over. "I'd say a lot, actually." He walked over to Bulkhead and looked down at him. "Why'd you lie yesterday?" he asked curiously.

"I don't know," Bulkhead said, deciding that honesty would probably be the best thing.

The minibot nodded in understanding then said, "Well thanks anyway." He extended a servo to Bulkhead. "My name's Bumblebee by the way."

Bulkhead looked at the servo then at Bumblebee and back again. "Bulkhead," he answered, taking hold of the servo.

Bumblebee grinned widely. "You know, Bulkhead, this could be the start of a beautiful friendship."

Looking at the grin made Bulkhead feel slightly uneasy but at the same time he also felt excitement beginning to flow through his energon lines. "Maybe," he agreed. "Just maybe."

A/N: I'm sorry that this chapter is so short but I promise that the next chapter will be longer. If any of you were planning to write a Bumblebee/Bulkhead origins story you are welcome to just ignore this chapter.

A/N/N: 3 reviews for this chapter and I will post the next chapter tomorrow, I promise.


	2. Arguments

Smugglers 3: The Beginning Is The End

Chapter 1: Arguments

All was quiet at the Autobot Prison Facility on Cybertron, the place where all the traitors and murderers such as Wasp resided. The small green mech sat in his cell, as still and silent as a rock. The guards eyed him nervously; it wasn't like Wasp to be this quiet. Normally the green minibot spent his time pacing back and forth in the cell, muttering to himself about how he was going to get revenge on the bot responsible for sending him there. So it was no wonder that the guards eyed him even more warily than usual; but it was already too late. They had no way of knowing that in less than an hour that cell would be empty and that one of them would be dead while Wasp would be on his way to requisition a ship before leaving the planet.

* * *

><p>Meanwhile, two galaxies away, nearing the planet Ambrosia, was a ship called, of all things, <em>The Smuggler.<em> It belonged to a smuggler named Bumblebee who, once upon a time, had been a well-known assassin until he had been the victim of an unfortunate accident which resulted in his processor being scrambled beyond repair. Ever since then the yellow minibot, along with his partner and longtime friend Bulkhead, had taken up smuggling as a hobby and it had eventually blossomed into a booming business. Bulkhead hadn't always been a smuggler either but had originally started out as a spacebridge technician until Bumblebee's accident. The two friends had been partners for years until recently when three new partners had joined their ranks. In fact the new bots had once been members of the Elite Guard. The leader or that little group was Optimus Prime, a tall bot who had the words 'Elite Guard' practically tattooed on his spark. Ratchet was a medibot; a relic from the Great War with the attitude of one who had seen too much. Last, but certainly not least, was Prowl. Prowl had been a spy-bot for several years before joining the Elite Guard where they had put his ninja skills to good use. Now instead of repairing space bridges, killing other bots, or hunting down smugglers these five, very different bots, were good friends and smugglers.

Currently they were drawing closer and closer to the planet Ambrosia; however Optimus had his doubts that they would ever arrive. He, along with Prowl and Ratchet, was sitting in the rec room valiantly attempting to ignore the yelling that was going on across the room; it wasn't working.

"You always act like a sparkling!" Bulkhead yelled.

Optimus didn't look up from the datanovel he was pretending to read but merely raised an optic ridge in shock. In all of their time together he had never, never heard Bulkhead speak like that to Bumblebee. In fact the last time someone had said something like to Bumblebee, they had had their vocal processor crushed by a green wrecking ball.

"Well you treat me like one!" Bumblebee shouted back.

Prowl said nothing but the nervous glances he cast towards the two friends when he thought no one was looking told Optimus that the black-and-gold bot was worried too. Ratchet didn't bother trying to hide the fact that he was worried but stared openly.

"Well I wouldn't have too if you would just act like a grown-up bot!"  
>"I can't! The Accident scrambled my processor! You know that!" Bumblebee cried.<p>

"You weren't even supposed to be there," Bulkhead argued.

"That's right; I wasn't," Bumblebee finally lost it. "That accident was meant for you; I was supposed to be on my merry way to the Bassan Galaxy."

"What?" Optimus gave up on all pretense of reading as he dropped the datanovel with a clang and stared in shock at the two as did Prowl and Ratchet.

"Now ya did it," Bulkhead growled.

"You started it," Bumblebee snarled. With that the yellow minibot turned and flounced towards the door. Once there he stopped and said, "You want me to be grown-up? Then I'll be grown-up." He held his head up high and left the room.

"Oh, great," Bulkhead groaned. "Just great."

Optimus waited until the green mech had sat down at the table with them then he spoke. "If you don't mind my asking, what was that all about?"

Bulkhead looked confused then suddenly grinned, comprehension appearing on his faceplate. "Oh. Sorry about that, I forgot that you guys hadn't been here for very long." When he saw their confused looks he sighed and began trying to explain, "Sometimes, and I really hate to say this, I get a little fed up with Bumblebee, you know?" he looked helplessly at them and Optimus nodded.

"I understand exactly how you feel," the red-and-blue bot assured him. "We all like Bumblebee but sometimes he does get on our nerves. Just a little though."

"I know exactly what you mean," Bulkhead said. "So every now and then we have an argument and he tries to act grown-up for a few days and by then I've realized just how much I miss the crazy Bumblebee and then everything goes back to normal. Well, what's normal for us anyway," he amended, causing the others to smile.

Optimus had a sudden vision of a grown-up Bumblebee and he shuddered. "Just how often does this happen?" he asked, dreading the answer.

Bulkhead looked thoughtful for a minute then said, "At least once a year, twice at the most."

Optimus nodded then hesitantly voiced something that had been bothering him ever since Bumblebee had stormed out. "What did Bumblebee mean when he said the accident was your fault?"

Bulkhead's smile disappeared instantly. "I should of known you'd pick up on that."

"If you don't want to answer…" Optimus began but Bulkhead shook his head.

"I don't mind," he said. "Unfortunately I don't know very much about what happened," he admitted. "But I do know that I was supposed to meet someone in a deserted location. Bee thought it was a trap of some sort and he didn't want me to go. In fact he made sure I didn't."

"How?" Prowl inquired.

A ghost of a smile appeared on Bulkhead's faceplate then disappeared. "He drugged me. By the time I woke up he was already gone and when I finally got there all I found was Bumblebee. He was lying on the ground, unconscious. When he woke up, well guys know the rest of the story."

They pondered the green mech's words for a few minutes then Ratchet broke the silence with, "Do ya know who's responsible?"

Bulkhead shook his head again. "Only Bumblebee knows and he's doing good to remember our names let alone some strange bot's he probably only met once."

"Why would someone want to do that to you?" Optimus inquired, genuinely puzzled. He could understand someone wanting to kill Bumblebee; the little bot would probably have bots lined up for three galaxies just to try and kill him. But Bulkhead? The guy had been a space bridge technician for crying out loud. What kind of enemies could you make repairing space bridges? Of course, knowing Bulkhead, it was possible that he had seen something that he wasn't supposed to or, and this was the most likely of the two, he had tripped one too many times on the wrong bot.

Bulkhead shrugged. "I don't know," he said. "I just don't know."

A/N: 5 reviews of this chapter before I post the next one. I'm sorry if this one didn't have enough Bumblebee in it for you and I'm really not sure if he's going to be in the next one or not but I will do my absolute best to include him.

A/N/N: I would really like to get at least 300 reviews for this story so bring 'em on!

Thanks for reading my other smugglers and I really hope that you guys like this one. This story will be the last story in the Smugglers Universe then I will start 'Mixed-Up'. (I can't guarantee that it'll be posted as fast as this one but I will do my best.)


	3. Flashbacks: Meeting Wasp

Smugglers 3: The Beginning Is The End

Chapter 2: Flashbacks: Meeting Wasp

A/N: All chapters that have the word 'Flashbacks' in the title is a flashback to before The Accident and all of them will eventually lead up to that event.

"That's the last piece," Bulkhead said happily, setting down the tools he had been using with a sigh of relief. Repairing space bridges was a lot harder than it looked, especially when it was just him as the other members of his team had contracted a minor virus. The sound of rocks falling caught his attention and he froze, optics daring around nervously. He was the only bot on this planet, right? He heard more sounds and decided to go check it out.

As quietly as he could possibly be, Bulkhead walked over to a wall of solid rock and peered around it. What he saw made his optics go wide and he was forced to stifle a gasp of shock. In the middle of the circle completely surrounded by rocks were two mechs arguing with each other. But what had shocked Bulkhead so badly was the identity of one of the bots; it was Sparkplug, a notorious scientist who had been condemned to death for unlawful experimentation on unwilling bots. However he had escaped on the way to prison and had never been seen since then. Bulkhead didn't know the other bot who was also green but clearly a minibot.

"We agreed on the price already," the minibot argued.

Sparkplug shook his head. "What you want is extremely difficult to obtain so I merely want a little extra for the inconvenience."

"All I want is a little cosmic rust," the green bot protested. "It's not like I'm asking for anything extremely dangerous."

Bulkhead nearly fainted from shock but somehow managed to stay upright. Cosmic rust? What did the minibot want with it?

"Why do you want cosmic rust anyways?" Sparkplug asked, unknowingly voicing Bulkhead's thoughts.

"Not that it's any of your business but I was hired to kill someone and I decided to use cosmic rust to fulfill the contract," the green minibot explained.

Bulkhead's optics were so wide by this time it was a miracle they hadn't fallen off by now. The green bot must be an assassin; Bumblebee had told him all about assassins and had warned him to head as fast as he could in the opposite direction should he ever come across one. Bulkhead had just been about to do so when he accidentally kicked a pebble with his pede and he winced as it bounced off a couple of other rocks before coming to a stop.

"What was that?" the green bot demanded.

"Probably just the rocks settling," Sparkplug replied. "They do that all the time. Shall we get back to business now?"

The minibot nodded when suddenly, without any warning, he leapt forward and dug his stingers into Sparkplug's spark chamber. Horrified, Bulkhead watched as Sparkplug's red armor slowly turned to gray and the lifeless bot fell to the rocky ground.

"Hah!" the minibot said triumphantly. "You should have known better than to try and cheat me. No bot cheats Wasp and lives to tell about it," he boasted.

Bulkhead watched as Wasp went through the fallen bot's subspace compartments, pulling out a small vial, holding it aloft. Only when the minibot began to turn around did Bulkhead duck behind the rock wall. He waited breathlessly until he heard the sound of a ship taking off. He waited a few more minutes until he was absolutely sure that Wasp was gone then cautiously moved away from the wall before breaking into a run, not stopping until he had reached his ship and was safely inside. He powered the engines at full blast; not caring that he had left all of his tools behind on the planet. He had far more important things to worry about; such as, telling his story to the authorities. Suddenly Bulkhead felt sick and wished that Bumblebee was there with him.

* * *

><p>Wasp was happy; very happy. He now had the cosmic rust needed to take care of his latest job and, best of all, he had finally gotten rid of that annoying Sparkplug and there hadn't any witnesses! He scowled at the console which was telling him there was a ship not far behind. It was moving awfully fast too. Wasp frowned then hissed when he remembered the sound of a rock hitting rock. There had been someone else on that planet; more than likely they were now heading to tell the Elite Guard about Wasp. Not gonna happen. Wasp turned his ship around, charging his weapons as he did so.<p>

* * *

><p>Bulkhead knew he was slagged the second he saw Wasp's ship facing him. He gulped nervously and tried to think. <em>What would Bumblebee do?<em> He silently asked himself. Well for starters Bumblebee probably would've attacked Wasp on the planet, not fled. But even if he had been forced to retreat to _The Smuggler_ he would have powered up all his weapons and blasted Wasp away. There was a slight problem with that however; there were no functioning weapons aboard the ship that Bulkhead was currently on. They had been disabled due to an attempt to conserve energy. So he breathed a quick prayer to Primus and thought, _Bee, if you're out there I could really use your help right about now._

* * *

><p>Bumblebee whistled a merry tune as he leaned back in the captain's chair, content to let the autopilot function do its job. He was very happy; he just fulfilled a contract and now he was on his way to pick up supplies and, hopefully, see Bulkhead. he tried to tell himself that the reason he was so happy was because, with the job over, he now had some free time and not the prospect of seeing Bulkhead. What was there to get so excited about? Bulkhead was a big, clumsy, stupid mech whose optics lit up the second he saw Bumblebee and was one of the few bots that Bumblebee genuinely liked. No. He didn't like Bulkhead…he <em>tolerated<em> him but he certainly didn't like him. He didn't like any bot. Well, Jazz was a possible exception.

A beep interrupted his musings and he sighed heavily, reluctantly sitting up to see what was going on. Oh it was just a space bridge repair ship being piloted by Bulkhead that was fixing to be attacked by another ship. He lay back only to jump up seconds later and start flipping switches and punching buttons. His optics narrowed and a feral look crossed his faceplate when he realized the other ship was about to fire. No one, and he meant no one, tried to hurt Bulkhead and lived to tell about it. On the other servo he didn't want to traumatize the big green mech by blowing an entire ship away in front of his optics. Besides, he was bored. A wicked grin crossed his faceplate as he gave the engines full power and raised the shields. This was gonna be fun.

* * *

><p>Bulkhead watched as the other ship came closer and closer. He shut his optics tightly and winced, waiting for the familiar sound of weapons firing. None came; instead he heard engines start up then a tremendous crash. Cautiously he un-shuttered one optic then quickly opened the other and stared in disbelief at the sight in front of him.<p>

Wasp's ship was still there but now one entire side of it had almost completely collapsed in on itself while, not the least bit harmed, _The Smuggler_ floated next to it. Bulkhead grinned, feeling relief coursing through his energon lines, replacing the terror that had been there mere moments before.

One of the consoles beeped and seconds later Bumblebee's faceplate filled the screen. "Are you all right, Bulkhead?" he asked, trying to sound indifferent but Bulkhead could hear a faint note of worry.

"I'm fine," the big green mech assured his friend. "Just a little shook up and really glad to see you.'

Bumblebee returned his grin full-force. "Me too," he said. "Now let's get this glitch-head delivered to the Elite Guard."

Bulkhead agreed and after attaching Wasp's ship to his own they set off towards the nearest occupied planet.

A/N/N: I was originally going to do the original TF:A story minus Bumblebee about Wasp being the traitor and I actually started the chapter like that but the next thing I know Sparkplug popped up and I was like 'what am I writing? This was not what I wanted to do' but you have to go where your muse takes you. So if you don't it then take it up with my muse. If you can find it that is, I'm pretty sure it's still at my aunt's house.

A/N/N/N: 10 reviews of this chapter and thanks for all of the reviews so far. I wasn't expecting that many but you're welcome to give that many! The next chapter will be in present time.


	4. GrownUp Bumblebee

Smugglers 3: The Beginning Is The End

Chapter 3: Grown-Up Bumblebee

Despite Optimus's earlier worries they had managed to make it to Ambrosia without any further mishaps but Optimus didn't expect their luck to last for long even if Bumblebee was acting 'grown-up' today. Quite frankly Optimus wasn't sure how much more of that he could take. He'd give anything just to hear Bumblebee act…normal, well normal for him anyway. One would think that having Bumblebee act his age would be a good thing but Optimus was inclined to disagree with them. So far Bumblebee had snapped at every one of them, insulted Prowl, made fun of Bulkhead, told Ratchet off and called Optimus a 'sparkless idiot'. Needless to say they were all willing to pay dearly for Bumblebee to start acting like himself again, in fact Optimus would even be willing to listen to one of Bumblebee's temper tantrums.

At the moment they were in a store, stocking up on some much-needed supplies. Well, Bumblebee was stocking up on supplies, the other four bots grabbed whatever he pointed out, deciding that it was probably in their best interests if they did what he told them to do.

"Prowl, grab that," Bumblebee rattled off some mechanical sounding name that left Prowl staring blankly at him. Bumblebee sighed and said, "The gray box on the top shelf."

"Oh," Prowl looked up then nimbly climbed until he had reached the top and tucked the piece of machinery into a subspace compartment before climbing back down, having learned earlier not jump on or off shelves.

"Idiot," Bumblebee grumbled, rolling his optics before returning to his list.

Optimus heard a low growl and turned just in time to see Prowl's servo slipping into the section of his armor where he kept his shurikens. "Prowl, no!" Optimus hissed. Prowl snarled but his servo fell back to his side.

"Optimus, get that," Bumblebee pointed to an engine part just out of Optimus's reach.

The red-and-blue bot sighed and somehow managed to retrieve the part without breaking anything else. A major accomplishment.

"At least you didn't break anything this time," Bumblebee muttered.

This time it was Prowl who had to stop Optimus from using his ax. "Don't, Prime," the ninja whispered sweetly. Ratchet sniggered then froze when Bumblebee turned to look at him.

"We need more medical supplies, Ratchet. See if you can manage that."

Ratchet growled but did as ordered. Optimus really envied Bulkhead who was loading the stuff onto the ship and therefore did not have to listen to the yellow tyrant. Optimus really missed the temper tantrums right about now. Judging by the looks on Prowl and Ratchet's faceplates they felt the exact same way.

"All right, that's it," Bumblebee announced, allowing a small hint of a smile when he heard three identical sighs of relief and he had an almost irrestible urge to start laughing and not stop. Fortunately however he was able to control the insane urge and wiped all traces of good humor from his faceplate as he mentally prepared himself to haggle over the price.

* * *

><p>Meanwhile, on the planet where Bulkhead had first run into Wasp, was a ship. A very badly damaged ship. The hull had a gaping hole in it and was no longer flyable despite the fact that the engines were perfectly fine. This was the result of flying through an energon storm which was all Skywarp's fault, at least according to Slipstream it was.<p>

"It's all your fault," the Decepticon femme announced.

"How is it my fault?" Skywarp demanded. "You were the one in charge of piloting the ship!"

"You distracted me."

"How did I distract you?"

"By yelling in my audio sensors."

"I did not yell."

Blitzwing groaned and tried to ignore the argument as he had heard it so many times before that he could quote it word-for-word by now. Since he was bored he decided to reflect on how they had ended up here. Oh he knew how but he was still working on why. In his personal opinion (in Icy's opinion at least) he believed they were being punished for their sins, specifically they were being punished for betraying Starscream and selling out to the Autobots. Sure Starscream had been a traitor too but in the end he had gotten what he deserved. Thus Blitzwing was convinced that being stuck on a planet with Slipstream and Skywarp was his punishment. He only hoped that he didn't live too much longer. He couldn't take any more of their arguing. He sighed he heard Slipstream power her weapons and resigned himself even as Skywarp appeared behind him.

* * *

><p>Despite the fact that he was the only bot on the ship Wasp still glanced around nervously as if waiting for someone to step out of the shadows and drag him kicking and screaming back to jail. <em>Never,<em> he thought. _Never again am I going back there._ If he didn't want to back he had to make some major changes to his appearance. First his helm would have to go as its shape was one of a kind and thus very distinctive. Second he would have to change his paint color, possibly get a new body altogether. Oh and change his voice. He would wait to make all of these changes until he had gotten his revenge on the bot responsible for sending him to jail; Bulkhead.

* * *

><p>Bulkhead knew something was wrong; he could feel it in his tanks. He sat down the box he had been in the middle of loading and turned to survey the area. All he could see was another twenty boxes at least still sat on the ground, waiting for him to notice them. He scowled at the innocent looking boxes and resumed loading, his feeling of foreboding not going away. He had just finished with the last of the boxes when the door that led to the store opened and Optimus came out, Prowl and Ratchet on either side of him. But what caught Bulkhead's attention was the yellow minibot clinging to the bot in the middle with his faceplate buried in Optimus's chassis.<p>

"What happened?" Bulkhead demanded, reaching out for his friend who eagerly attached himself to his big green bodyguard.

Optimus looked hesitant then said, "The clerk mentioned that a prisoner by the name of Wasp," Bumblebee whimpered loudly and began shaking, "and that's when Bumblebee had sort of a nervous breakdown."

"Wasp escaped?" Bulkhead echoed, running a digit up and down Bumblebee's back in a soothing manner.

"You know him?" Optimus asked, looking and sounding surprised.

"You could say that," Bulkhead answered. "I'm the bot who sent him to jail."

A/N: 15 reviews please.


	5. Flashbacks: Trial & Escape

Smugglers 3: The Beginning Is The End

Chapter 4: Flashbacks: Trial & Escape

A/N: Despite the fact that I did not receive all 15 reviews that I asked for I decided to go ahead and post this chapter anyway.

Trials weren't fun Bulkhead decided. He had almost blown a gasket when he had been called on to testify but one look at Bumblebee who had smiled at him encouragingly and he had been fine after that. Nervous but fine. Although he had almost fallen asleep during the closing statements. The jury had been out for almost an hour now and Bulkhead had to wonder how long it took to decide whether or not someone was guilty. As far as Bulkhead was concerned it was open-and-shut but it wasn't up to him. He sighed and shifted in his seat, tempted to get up and stretch his joints. In fact he was surprised that Bumblebee hadn't already left as the little bot didn't like to stay in one place for long periods of time; especially if he happened to be surrounded by lots of other bots; it made him jumpy and a jumpy Bumblebee was not a good thing. Bulkhead was distracted from his thoughts by the sound of a door opening and he looked up hopefully and was relieved to see the jury re-entering the room.

"Jury, have you reached a verdict?" the judge asked.

"We have your honor. We find the defendant, Wasp, guilty."

Bulkhead grinned then turned to Bumblebee who grinned back. "You did it, Bulky."

"Yeah, I guess we did," Bulkhead said then impulsively picked up Bumblebee, hugging the small bot to his spark. Bumblebee looked surprised then awkwardly returned the hug, a strange look on his faceplate. After a few minutes Bulkhead put his friend back down and they turned to watch as the guard bots came to escort Wasp out of the courtroom.

"You'll pay," the green minibot hissed. 'You will pay for this. No one puts Wasp in jail and gets away with it. No one!" he yelled as the guards forcibly dragged him out of the room.

Once he was gone Bulkhead looked worriedly at Bumblebee. "What did he mean by 'you'll pay'?" the large green mech asked nervously.

"It's something every bot yells when they go to jail," Bumblebee said, trying to reassure his friend. Bulkhead still looked worried so Bumblebee tried to think of a way to cheer him up then brightened as he thought of something. "Hey, Bulky, wanna go do something fun?"

Hearing the tone of the little bot's voice Bulkhead immediately grew suspicious. "Like what?" he asked warily, not entirely sure if he wanted to hear the answer. If Bumblebee used the words 'crazy' or 'fun' one had to be cautious; very cautious.

Bumblebee's grin grew as he whispered something in Bulkhead's audio sensors. Bulkhead's optics grew wider and wider and he looked horrorstruck. "That's not crazy; that's illegal!" he protested, earning some very strange looks from bots as they made their way out of the room.

"Shh!" Bumblebee hissed. "Not so loud, we're still in the courthouse or did you forget? Now what do you say, Bulkhead? Up for a little action?"

Bulkhead hesitated and looked at the eager faceplate in front of him. Bumblebee didn't have to come yet he had and even waited with Bulkhead for the verdict. So Bulkhead nodded reluctantly and felt oddly warmed inside when Bumblebee smiled at him; not grinned but smiled. It wasn't a fake smile either like some bot's but was a genuine smile and Bulkhead knew without a shadow of a doubt that he had made the right decision.

"Let's go!" Bumblebee cried, tugging impatiently at Bulkhead's much larger servo.

"I'm coming," Bulkhead said with a laugh. "I'm coming."

* * *

><p>Once they left the courtroom Wasp went limp and stopped struggling. He walked quietly down the halls, stopping only when the guard bots ordered him to do so. He did not try to make a break for it but was docile and silent. The guard bots thought nothing of it but were relieved to have a cooperating prisoner for once. Had they known what Wasp was really up to or were smart they no doubt would have been very worried and kept a closer optic on him; but they didn't. So Wasp watched them, mentally pinpointing potential weak spots and carefully storing them for later. He didn't protest even when they shoved him in the van that would take him to jail a little more roughly than necessary. He merely climbed in and sat down. as they were shutting the doors he happened to glance up just in time to catch sight of the stupid green mech and his little yellow companion as they exited the courthouse. His mouth pulled into a snarl as a feral look of rage crossed his faceplate however it did not stay long, leaving as quickly as it had appeared. His faceplate was blank by the time one of the guard bots climbed in the back to keep an optic and weapon trained on him.<p>

The ride was a long and very bumpy one as they were taking him a maximum security prison. He wasn't worried; give him enough time and he could break out of anywhere. The only problem was that he didn't want to wait any longer than absolutely necessary to have his revenge. He wanted it and he wanted it now. However he was forced to conceded that it would be best to wait; for another twenty minutes at least. By then they should by in the Wastelands; a large rocky section of Cybertron where some rather unscrupulous characters resided and where no police bot dared go near. It would be the best place for Wasp to escape; until then he just had to be patient. Unfortunately patience was not a virtue Wasp had ever desired or tried to attain. But even he could wait just a few more minutes…couldn't he?

Within ten minutes (although far too long in Wasp's opinion) the transport vehicle began bouncing up and down, a sure sign that they were now entering the Wastelands. Wasp waited, his very frame quivering with eagerness. The guard didn't noticed as he turned to yell at the driver. Seizing his chance Wasp leapt forward, grabbing the keys to the cuffs then crashed into the door cuasing it to open as it had been jarred due to the bumpy road. He jumped out, landing in the middle of the road. Quickly he rose to his pedes and ducked behind some rocks.

The van stopped and both police bots climbed out and stood next to it.

"Should we look for him?" the one who had been riding with Wasp asked.

The driver shook his head. "Nah," he said. "He'll be dead in a day, two at the most. Now let's get going, I don't want to stay here any longer than I have to."

"I'm with you," his companion agreed and they laughed as they climbed back in the vehicle before driving off.

Wasp rose from his hiding place and watched until they were no longer visible then began trying to unlock the energon cuffs. "I hope you're ready, Bulkhead, 'cause here I come," he said with an evil laugh as the cuffs fell to the ground. "Here I come."

A/N/N: 15 reviews again please. I know I'm asking for a lot of reviews but I'm the one working overtime to get this story written before school starts and then I'm writing another story after that! Reviews keep me going and I'm pretty sure that no one wants me to stop right here, do they? So please review.

A/N/N/N: You'll find out what Bumblebee talked Bulkhead into doing in chapter 6.

A/N/N/N/N: I am planning to make this story as long as the first Smugglers story if I can. The next chapter will be posted tomorrow around 5 pm if I remember.

Thanks for all the reviews so far!


	6. Seeing Jazz

Smugglers 3: The Beginning Is The End

Chapter 5: Seeing Jazz

A/N: Thank you for all of the reviews; I really appreciate it. I'm sorry if I seemed a bit rude the other day; I didn't mean to be. Thanks to Butterflykaguya87 for pointing that out to me. So once again I apologize and please keep the reviews coming. Thank you very much.

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><p>After hearing Bulkhead's story Optimus merely nodded and forbade Prowl and Ratchet from asking any questions. The blue-and-red mech was burning with curiosity as well but at the moment they had much more important issues to deal with such as what to do with Bumblebee. Ever since their hasty departure from Ambrosia the little bot had completely reverted back to his normal self; which would have been okay except for the fact that he had actually become more like a sparkling than normal. He was so clingy that if he wasn't latched onto someone he immediately started shrieking at the top of his vocal processor. Needless to say Optimus and Ratchet both had slipped more than a few spinal discs from carrying the little bot while Prowl's audio receptors had blown completely after he refused to slow-dance with Bumblebee to some romantic sounding Earth music. Due to Bulkhead's massive size and re-enforced joints he not suffer as much harm as the others but instead had been used as Bumblebee's personal play toy and climbing gym as the little bot liked to climb all over him before falling into recharge. According to Bulkhead Bumblebee had acted like this right after he had been broken out of the asylum and the first time Bulkhead had been captured by the Elite Guard but he didn't know why his little buddy was acting this way now. Optimus didn't really care why he just wanted it to stop. Falling into recharge with Bumblebee on his chassis was one thing; waking up with Bumblebee's arms wrapped so tightly around his neck that Optimus had trouble with his intakes…he drew the line at that.<p>

Fortunately salvation was close at servo; rumors of a blue-and-white mech stealing music a planet away had floated into Prowl's recently repaired audio sensors so they were now going that way in the hopes that it was Jazz. If nothing else he could give them a break from watching Bumblebee. It was with great relief that Optimus identified the ship ahead of them as belonging to Jazz. "It's Jazz," he called. The three sighs of relief were barely audible over Bumblebee's squeal of happiness.

"Thank goodness," Prowl muttered, his arms wrapped around Bumblebee's legs as he was currently serving as the little bot's mode of transportation.

"Jazz!" Bumblebee said happily, banging his legs against Prowl's sides.

"Don't do that,' Prowl said sharply. Bumblebee didn't stop. "Unless you want me to put you down you'll stop that this instant."

Prowl immediately regretted his words as the little gray faceplate screwed up and Bumblebee drew in a deep breath then released it as a loud piercing scream, the others quickly covering their sensitive audio sensors except for Prowl who was still holding onto Bumblebee.

This was the scene that greeted Jazz's optics when he opened a communications channel. "What the slag are you guys doin to him?" he demanded.

"Jazz! It's so good to see you," Bulkhead looked slightly overwhelmed.

"We can exchange pleasantries later," Ratchet growled. "Just tell that idiot to get over here."

Normally Jazz would have protested being called an idiot but something warned him not to mess with them. Considering that this was the same voice that told him when he was about to get in major trouble he decided to do the smart thing and listen to it for once. "Well if you guys open the door I'll be more than happy to come over there," he said.

A few minutes later Jazz found himself aboard _The Smuggler_ gazing at the five very unique bots. There was no easy way to say it so Jazz decided to be blunt. "Y'all look awful," he said gesturing towards the four big bots. Well, he decided to be blunt but to also be diplomatic. The truth of the matter was they didn't look awful; they looked downright terrible. Poor Bulkhead was swaying so badly Jazz feared that he would fall over. Ratchet's optics kept shuttering but then he would shake his head, forcing them to stay open. Optimus kept trying rather unsuccessfully to stifle a yawn while Prowl swayed ever so slightly, the yellow minibot on his back seemingly the only thing keeping him on his pedes.

"You'd look awful too if you had to deal with him," Prowl muttered.

"What's he been doin?" Jazz asked, only slightly curious. Years of knowing Bumblebee had taught him the dangers of being too curious.

"Mostly he's just been cling to every one of us then throwing a temper tantrum if we try to set him down," Optimus explained, with a loud yawn.

"Come here, Bee," Jazz said, holding out his arms invitingly. Needing no encouragement the yellow mech early accepted as was soon resting comfortably on Jazz's hip. "Why don't you guys go get some recharge," he suggested.

"Are you sure?" Optimus asked hesitantly, trying not to look to eager to leave.

Jazz waved him off. "Oh I don't mind," Jazz re-assured the other mech who wasted no time in exiting the room along with his comrades.

"I missed you," bumblebee whispered as they left the room.

"I missed ya too," Jazz headed straight for the rec room where he intended to hopefully get the little bot to recharge. Once there Jazz opened up a cupboard and pulled out two cubes of energon; one regular cube for him and one specially processed cube for Bumblebee. He sat down at one of the tables and handed Bumblebee's energon to him then frowned. "What's wrong, Bee?" he asked gently.

"Nothing," Bee whispered, his words slightly muffled by Jazz's chassis.

"Don't give me that. Something's got ya worried, now what is it?"

Bumblebee was silent for so long that Jazz was about to give up on ever receiving an answer when Bumblebee said suddenly, "I'm scared, Jazz."

"Scared of what?"

"I don't know; everything I guess. I've got this terrible feeling that something bad's gonna happen real soon and when it does I won't ever see you or any of the others ever again. I don't want that to happen, Jazz, I don't!" the little bot was crying by this time, his entire frame literally shaking form the force of his sobs.

"It's gonna be okay," Jazz soothed, rubbing Bee's back. "Everything's gonna be all right, just you wait and see." Yet as he continued to soothe Bumblebee he couldn't help but doubt his own words.

Two days later they said their goodbyes to Jazz, Bumblebee giving the blue-and-white bot an extra tight hug then stepped back as Jazz board his ship. Jazz watched as _The Smuggler_ left; not knowing that it would be the last time he would ever see the yellow minibot again, yet somehow feeling strangely saddened as he too took off.

A/N/N: 15 reviews again please but I'll be satisfied with 10.


	7. Flashbacks: Race

Smugglers 3: The Beginning Is The End

Chapter 6: Flashbacks: Race

Bumblebee wasn't crazy, Bulkhead decided. He was. "I can't believe I let you talk me into this," he moaned.

"Oh don't be such a worry bot," Bee's voice was slightly muffled but could still be heard clearly.

"Worried? Who said I was worried? I'm not worried; I'm petrified! What happens if we get caught? I don't want to go to jail!"

There was a clang followed by a very loud curse then Bee slid out from underneath his ship and looked reprovingly at Bulkhead. "Now, Bulkhead, when have I ever let anything bad happen to you?" Bumblebee looked extremely innocent but Bulkhead merely raised an optic ridge.

"Well there was that time when you led those police bots that were chasing you right to me and they thought I was a jewel thief."

"But I had to get away from them somehow," Bumblebee protested. "Besides any bot could tell just by looking at you, and no offence, you were just a little too big to have fit through that hole in the ceiling."

"And then you wrecked the ship that I was supposed to be using to get to space bridges so I could repair them."

"It was a piece of junk," Bumblebee said after deciding it was probably better not to mention the fact that the space bridge Bulkhead had been heading to had had explosives to it and was programmed to go off the next time someone touched it. Yeah, probably better not to mention that as he had been responsible for that one day when he had been very bored.

"I could go on for hours so give me one good reason why I should go along with this," Bulkhead crossed his arms and looked squarely at the yellow minibot.

"Why, Bulkhead," Bee pretended to look hurt, sniffling and blinking rapidly as if his optics were about to start leaking. "I'm hurt that you don't trust me. I would never intentionally harm you; you know that."

Bulkhead sighed and hesitated; true he knew Bumblebee would never let any serious harm come to him. He sighed again and said, rather reluctantly, "Okay I'll do it."

"Yippee!" Bumblebee cheered. "All right, let's do this!" He jumped to his pedes, grabbing his tools as he did so then zoomed into the ship, Bulkhead right behind him.

"I gotta bad feeling about this," the green bot muttered as he closed the door. He walked to the control room and sat down at one of the consoles.

"Are you sure about this?"

Startled, Bulkhead turned to Bumblebee who was sitting in the captain's chair, looking slightly worried. "What do you mean?" Bulkhead was genuinely confused.

"This race. If you don't really want to do it, you don't have too."

Bulkhead was tempted to say that he didn't want to do it but he resisted. He was doing this because Bumblebee wanted too and that was what best friends did. Of course if someone had told him seven years ago that he would be best friends with a smuggler and would be participating in illegal events and running away from police bots on a regular basis he probably would have blown a gasket from laughing so hard. "I want to," he assured his friend.

"Are you sure?" Bumblebee did not look convinced in the slightest.

"Yeah," Bulkhead nodded. "It sounds like," he was forced to stop and swallow before he could continue, "a lot of fun."

"Okay," Bumblebee still didn't look convinced but he grinned anyway.

There was a loud screech of feedback from outside causing the two friends to wince then a voice said," Welcome to the 1000th Annual Smuggler's Race. Remember there are no rules in this race so anything goes! Winner takes home three million credits. Racers, start your engines!"

The deserted area of space was soon filled with the revving of engines as all bots tensed and prepared to take off.

"Well this is it, Bulkhead," Bumblebee said. "Are you ready?"

"Let's go kick some aft," Bulkhead declared then immediately looked horrified.

"Bulkhead!" Bee exclaimed, pretending to be scandalized before smiling proudly. "I've corrupted you."

"Go!" the loud voice yelled.

Immediately all ten ships took off at the same time, Bulkhead gritting his denta as _The Smuggler_ moved at speeds he hadn't thought possible…until now that is. Bulkhead risked a glance at the screen displaying their opponents and nearly crashed when he saw _The Terror_ coming up behind them with no intentions of stopping or going around. "Uh, Bee,' he pointed at the screen.

"Slag!" Bee cursed. "Evasive maneuvers," he ordered.

Bulkhead nodded then hesitated, his servos hovering uncertainly over the buttons. "Which one do I press?" he asked, gesturing towards a row of identical red buttons.

"Third one from your left," Bee replied. "But whatever you do, don't press the button in the middle or else something very bad is going to happen," he warned.

"Gotcha," Bulkhead pressed the third red button from his left then shrieked in alarm when the ship suddenly jerked to the left, just barely avoiding _Short Circuit._ When he looked up he frowned. The area of space directly ahead of them was completely empty; there were no ships, nothing except for a small scattering of stars which, Bulkhead realized when he tilted his head a certain way, looked exactly like a small cyberbee. "It's beautiful," he whispered, his voice filled with awe.

"I know," Bumblebee said, rising from his seat and coming to stand beside Bulkhead. "This is one of my favorite areas of space. I like to come here sometimes and just look at it because it's so beautiful yet empty. Despite whatever goes on around it, no matter how many ships come through here it always remains the same." Suddenly his voice turned businesslike once again as he re-claimed his seat. "Come on, Bulkhead, we've got ourselves a race to win. Press the sixth button from your right."

Bulkhead did and instantly the ship was surrounded by a cloud of smoke. "What the slag was that?" he asked, not caring that he had just swore.

"A smokescreen," Bee answered. "The other compeititors won't be able to see a thing so we'll win by a landslide," he bragged.

Bumblebee's prediction came true; to a certain extent that is. The others couldn't see but still another ship made it through the cloud of smoke, emerging next to _The Smuggler. _The other ship was aptly named _The Terminator._ Bulkhead already felt nervous and sent a quick prayer to Primus. _The Terminator_ bumped into them, cuasing Bulkhead to land on the floor with a loud thud. Bee's optics narrowed and a wicked smile spread across his faceplate. "You wanna play rough?" he muttered. "Fine; we'll play rough. Let's make this a little more fun shall we?" He walked over to one of the consoles and, entering a series of commands, hit the other ship, no doubt leaving a dent on it that would take weeks to pound out.

"Why don't we have a dent?" Bulkhead asked curiously as he rose rather unsteadily to his pedes.

"Re-enforced shields," Bumblebee didn't bother looking up as he continued to enter commands. "They're very useful when you get sideswiped but they like to malfunction when you're getting fired at."

"Well let's hope that they don't start firing," Bulkhead said nervously then cringed when they were hit again.

"Primus, don't they ever give up?" Bee grumbled. "I didn't want to do this but apparently I don't have a choice; Bulkhead, I want you to press the middle button."

Bulkhead looked startled even as he began protesting. "But I thought you said that something bad would happen if I did."

"It's an emergency so push it and hold on to something," Bee advised.

Bulkhead sighed and closed his optics as his digit pressed down on the button. The ship jumped forward so fast that Bulkhead almost blew two gaskets then, just as suddenly, it came to a stop. Bulkhead hesitantly cracked open an optic then, once he had determined that he wasn't off line, opened the other one as well. "We did it, Bee," he said happily. "We won!" Silence. "Bee?"

A groan came from the other end of the room then Bee said, "Now I remember why I don't press that button more often," he groaned again as he managed to stand up.

Bulkhead grinned in relief. "I'm glad to see that you're okay, little buddy," he said happily.

"Little buddy?" Bee raised an optic ridge. "Hmm, not bad. Not bad at all."

They exited the ship, Bumblebee in the lead, bowing and making obscene gestures at the bots who had lost and were just now arriving. Not liking the looks they were shooting his friend, Bulkhead picked Bee up and placed the little bot on his much larger shoulder strut. As he looked up at the grinning minibot Bulkhead decided that maybe illegal races weren't so bad after all. In fact, at the moment, everything was just perfect. It was a shame that he had no way of knowing that in less than forty-eight hours he would be in a hospital anxiously waiting to find out whether or not his friend was going to survive.

A/N: I did put in the synopsis 'Character Death' but it might not be Bumblebee; it could be one of the others but you'll have to keep reading to find out.

A/N/N: 15 reviews, will accept 10. Sorry this chapter was so late but I just got home and then had to type it up. It might be late tomorrow too, I'm not sure. Thanks for all the reviews so far.


	8. Decepticons & Wasp

Smugglers 3: The Beginning Is The End

Chapter 7: Decepticons & Wasp

Okay, to be perfectly honest Wasp had known the ship was a piece of junk when he had stolen it. Unfortunately had been in a hurry otherwise he would have taken the time to choose one that was in better condition. He was sorely regretting not taking the risk; his engines were almost completely shot and he was only a few planets away from Cybertron! Of course the Elite Guard vessel that was currently chasing him didn't help matters any.

He sighed and entered a series of commands that would intiate automatic evasive maneuvers. Instead the words 'Function Not Available' lappeared on the console in red letters and began flashing. A growl escaped his vocalizer as he began to manually pilot the ship. It had been literally thousands of years since he had had to actually fly something so he searched in his processor until he found the correct files hidden behind a rather pleasant memory of the first time he had actually made money after killing someone. He moved that particular memory to another section of his processor and concentrated on flying. It was coming back to him now; the sound of weapons fire, a femme screaming…No! He did not want to think about that.

The ship suddenly rocked; jerking Wasp out of his memories and causing him to divert his attention to the consoles in an effort to discover what was going on. He scowled when he realized that they had completely destroyed his primary engine and the secondary one was already beginning to fail. He knew that if he lost another engine the other two would soon follow, not able to keep up with the strain. If that happened then the ship would crash and he would most likely go off line…permanently. He didn't want that to happen so he began searching for a planet that he could land on, hopefully one without any Elite Guard…after he took care of the bots that were still chasing him.

If they were just a little bit closer he could blast them away…that is if the weapons system was still online. Fortunately for him it was so he charged the weapons, diverting all non-essential power systems to it, thus giving it enough power to hopefully destroy the Elite Guard officers who were gaining on him. He waited until they were just a little bit closer than before then he fired. Seconds later there was a loud explosion as the Elite Guard vessel was turned into a glorious fireball, one that could be seen for miles that is, it would have been seen but there was no one around…no one at all.

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><p>"I'm bored," Skywarp whined.<p>

"Go count rocks," Slipstream didn't look up from the datanovel she was currently in the process of writing. Having read everything else on the ship at least one hundred times each she had finally decided to write her won, saying that if nothing else at least it gave her something constructive to do with her time.

"I already did," was the reply.

"All of them?"

"Every single one of them," he sighed, warping to directly behind her as he attempted to see what she was writing.

"I'm busy; go annoy Blitzwing."

Blitzwing's head snapped up and he frantically began to shake his head from side-to-side. "Don't even think about it," he threatened.

Skywarp began to pout. "But I'm so bored!"

"Then vhy don't you let us use you for target practice?" Blitzwing suggested, a malicious smile on his faceplate.

"On second thought counting rocks again sounds like fun," Skywarp hurriedly warped to the other side of the planet where he began counting rocks.

Blitzwing sighed happily and leaned back so he could stare at the sky. Suddenly it occurred to him that he was bored. Perhaps he should have used Skywarp for target practice. The warping clone of Starscream's was getting on his last nerves…assuming he even had nerves. Did Transformers have nerves, he wondered and suddenly wished he had paid more attention to school which brought up another question: had he even gone to school? It was so long ago that he couldn't even remember. In fact he couldn't even remember anything from before the war…

There was an explosion and Blitzwing hurriedly sat up as did Slipstream. The two looked around and seeing nothing went back to what they had been doing.

"Incoming!" Skywarp screeched just as he appeared behind Blitzwing, his servos grasping the triple-changer's shoulder struts tightly.

"What's coming?" Slipstream asked in a bored tone, her voice suggesting that Skywarp better not be tormenting her again or else he was going to be in some serious pain.

"A ship," Skywarp said excitedly.

"Ship?" Blitzwing and Slipstream said at the same time, all else forgotten.

Skywarp nodded. "I think it's fixing to crash."

"It better not," Slipstream growled as she sat up, sliding her datanovel into a subspace compartment. "Now where is it?"

"Over there," Skywarp pointed in the direction he had just warped from.

"Then let's go," she said. "Maybe we'll be lucky and the ship will still be intact."

"The vay our luck has gone so far it will most likely be in several itsy-bitsy pieces," Blitzwing remarked then flinched when Slipstream turned the full force of her glare on him.

"Shut it, three-face," she hissed, "or else I'm gonna rip all three of your faceplates off then melt the rest of you down for spare parts. Got it?"

Not wishing to anger her further Blitzwing merely nodded and almost sagged in relief when she turned her attention away from him. Not even Hothead would take on an angry femme; especially one who was as cunning as she was.

All too soon they arrived where Skywarp had been and stopped on top of a hill a short distance away. Looking down they could see a ship, the outer hull seemingly not damaged. A green minibot stood next to the ship, shaking his fist and cursing in several different languages including some that they had never heard before. He probably would've never known that they were there had Skywarp not accidentally kicked a rock, causing it to roll down the hill and bounce off the ship.

"Nice going," Slipstream snarled as she began the descent.

"Sorry," Skywarp whined as he and Blitzwing climbed down as well and stood beside her.

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><p>Wasp knew that Fate hated him when he climbed out of his ship and recognized the plaent he was currently standing on as the same planet where that big green idiot had seen him. The three Decepticons approaching him only served to solidify his opinion. "What are you doing here?" he demanded.<p>

The femme raised an optic ridge. "We could be asking you the same question," her voice was slightly screechy and very irritating.

"This be Wasp's planet! Wasp be seen here and Wasp sent to jail. Wasp escape and take care of yellow bot. Wasp be captured again and wait for many years then escape again."

"I think he is crazy," the bot with two guns protruding from his back announced calmly.

"Like you can talk?" she muttered.

Suddenly the bot who had been hiding behind the one with the peculiar accent appeared in front of Wasp then re-appeared behind his comrade once more. "He's an Autobot," he said.

The femme snarled and pointed her weapons at Wasp. "Our leader and creator was destroyed by the Autobots," she hissed.

"But ve betrayed him; sold out to them," one of her companions protested. "There ve are the ones responsible for his death."

"But he was killed by a different Autobot," she insisted. "Had he been killed by the one we made a deal with then it would have been all right."

Watching and listening to them argue had given Wasp an idea. "Wasp want to destroy Autobots," he said.

The Decepticons looked at each other then the femme turned back to him. "What did you have in mind?" she asked.

Wasp grinned and began to outline his diabolical plan.

A/N: 15 reviews but will live with 10. Sorry this chapter's so late; I was out shopping with my Aunt Tricha. Bumblebee WILL be in the next chapter; I promise.


	9. Flashbacks: The Note

Smugglers 3: The Beginning Is The End

Chapter 8: Flashbacks: The Note

Bulkhead was exhausted; who knew that taking part in an illegal race could wear a bot out so quickly. He let out a relieved sigh as he sat down at the table and looked happily at the cube of energon in front of him. Bee was going to arrive any minute now; he had said so before disappearing immediately after the race saying something about hiding his half of the winnings. Bulkhead still couldn't believe Bee had given him half of the credits that they had won; he had tried to refuse but Bee insisted which was why he now had over one million and a half credits in his bank account with a few hidden for safekeeping.

He frowned and checked his internal chronometer again. Bee should've been here by now. Bulkhead was just about to get up and start searching for his missing friend when he heard the very familiar sound of tires squealing and turned just in time to see the yellow minibot come zooming around the corner and screech to a stop directly in front of Bulkhead.

"Hello, Bulky," he said cheerfully.

"What's wrong?" Bulkhead asked, not missing the way his friend jumped and glanced behind him worriedly at the sound of sirens.

"Oh, nothing," Bee said airily. "Just a slight…misunderstanding between myself and our friendly police bots."

The sirens were getting closer now; any second they'd be coming around the corner to take away his friend. Bulkhead looked around wildly then his blue optics lit up as something occurred to him. Quickly he grabbed Bee who yelped in surprise then shoved the startled bot in the between his shoulder armor and shoulder struts.

Moments later the police bots appeared and, not seeing a yellow minibot anywhere, went directly to Bulkhead and asked him if he had seen anyone come running by.

Bulkhead shook his head and watched anxiously as they looked around the area and under benches before going back the way they had come from. Bulkhead sighed in relief and said, "You can come out now, Bee."

There was silence then the big green mech winced as he felt something move underneath his armor, inadvertently kicking some rather sensitive wires as well. Seconds later a yellow helm with horns popped out followed by the rest of Bee's body. The minibot lay panting on Bulkhead's shoulder strut then he said, "Bulky."

"Yeah, Bee?"

"If you ever do that again, please adjust your shoulder guard," Bee begged.

"Will do," Bulkhead agreed. "Maybe we should go now," he suggested.

"That sounds like a good idea," Bee sat up and sipped some of the energon Bulkhead had given him before handing it back to his oversized companion who quickly downed the rest of it.

They walked a little further, just reaching the halfway point to Bulkhead's apartment when they heard voices. Bulkhead peered around the corner then quickly jumped back. "Police bots," he whispered in a barely audible voice.

They were about to find another way to go when one of the police bots said, "I don't know about you guys but I'm beat. First we spend all day looking for that bot who escaped earlier and now we have to chase some insane minibot that tried to run over our captain!"

"It was an accident," Bee hissed. Bulkhead gripped his friend's legs, effectively immobilizing him and motioned for him to be quiet. Bee grumbled but shushed, allowing Bulkhead to listen to what was being said.

Another police bot answered and said, "I say we let this bot go. Finding Wasp is infinitely more important, wouldn't you say?"

There were murmurs of agreement then the first police bot that had spoken said, "I agree. Let's go, men!"

The two friends stayed absolutely still until they were certain that all of the police bots were gone then looked at each other and echoed, "Wasp escaped?"

The remainder of the walk to Bulkhead's apartment was quiet as both bots mulled over what they had heard and what it meant for both of them.

Bulkhead wasn't just scared; he was petrified. He was the bot who had testified against Wasp and according to everything that he heard and seen in datanovels and holovideos that meant Wasp was obligated to…kill him in retaliation. Primus, he hoped Wasp didn't come after him but if the green minibot did then he hoped that Bee was far, far away when it happened.

Bumblebee was scared too but not for himself; he was…concerned for Bulkhead. When Wasp came for him, and Wasp would, there was only one outcome and that was Bulkhead: dead. Bee wasn't going to let that happen. In his processor Bumblebee was already accessing the blueprints for Bulkhead's apartment and figuring out where the weak spots were and how to best defend them. As long as Bulkhead stayed out of the way then he should be fine.

When they finally arrived at their destination the first thing Bulkhead did was check the mail but did consent to wait and read it inside much to Bumblebee's relief. The little bot had quickly gone from 'the winner of a race' to 'assassin' in the blink of an optic. Contrary to popular opinion Bulkhead wasn't a complete idiot, he was just…naïve about some things. He knew that Bee was an assassin; had guessed it not long after that initial meeting at the café. He had almost, almost not had anything to do with Bee after that but after doing a lot of thinking he had decided to take a chance and keep keeping out with Bee and now he didn't regret it. Whatever Bee did on his own time he made a conscious effort not to bring it up in front of Bulkhead. Instead he regaled the big mech with outrageous tales of outlaws, smugglers and anything else he could make up. To his eternal surprise bulkhead discovered that he didn't mind being friends with someone that killed other bots for a living. In fact he felt quite safe slipping into recharge when Bee was near. Watching the little bot lock and re-lock his front door Bulkhead decided that he was glad he had helped Bee out that day; otherwise would have missed out on a beautiful friendship.

Bumblebee was tense as Bulkhead went through the mail, waiting for something to blow up. So far nothing had but that didn't mean anything. There could be a time delayed fuse on something…his thoughts were interrupted by Bulkhead who was frowning at the last datapad. "What's wrong?" Bumblebee asked sharply, his sensors on high alert.

"Well it says, 'I have information that could lead to the re-capture of Wasp. Meet me at the planet where you first saw Wasp and come alone.' The really strange thing is that it's not signed. I suppose I should go though," he said thoughtfully.

Bumblebee thought quickly; he was positive the message was from Wasp. He had to stop Bulkhead from going but how? "I wouldn't worry, Bulkhead. It's probably just a prank," he said with a laugh.

Bulkhead didn't look convinced. "A prank?" he repeated. "Who would do something like that?"

Bumblebee shrugged. "I don't know," he admitted honestly. "But like I said; you shouldn't worry about it."

"I should still go though," Bulkhead said.

Bumblebee had to resist the urge to put the other mech in stasis lock then remembered something. "All right," he agreed, suddenly changing tactics. "Why don't we have some energon then recharge," he suggested, rising and going to the kitchen.

"Okay," Bulkhead said with a loud yawn.

Once in the kitchen Bumblebee snuck a peek into the living room to make sure Bulkhead wasn't looking his way then he pulled a small needle out of a subspace compartment and emptied the contents into a cube of energon he had retrieved from the cabinet then put the needle back. Picking up the cube that now had a few special ingredients in it and a regular cube, headed back to the living room where he handed Bulkhead the drugged cube. After he had sat down he raised his cube and said, "To Bulkhead, the finest racing partner a mech could ask for."

Bulkhead raised his and said, "To Bee, the best friend a mech could ask for."

Bee blinked away the sudden moisture he felt gathering in his optics and smiled as they 'clinked' their cubes of energon and drank them. Bumblebee watched out of the corner of his optic as Bulkhead's servo fell limply to his side and soon he was in the land of recharge. Bee smiled gently at the green mech and covered him with a thermal blanket before slipping out of the apartment, locking the door behind him.

A/N: 15 reviews, will accept 10.

A/N/N: If anyone's confused the contents of the needle was a substance that, when given in small doses, will knock a mech out for several hours. Bee happened to have some on him because, in large doses, it kills.


	10. Earth

Smugglers 3: The Beginning Is The End

Chapter 9: Earth

"Why are we going to Earth again?" Prowl asked.

Not at all surprised by the question for he had been expecting it ever since Bulkhead's announcement an hour earlier Optimus said, "Because Bumblebee wanted to check up on Sari while we were near the Bassan Galaxy since we're fixing to head back Cybertron."

Prowl was silent for a few minutes then hesitantly he said, "Prime, do you…have you noticed how scared Bumblebee's been recently?"

Optimus nodded. You'd have to blind not to notice how jumpy the little bot had grown over the past week. "He's been like that ever since we found out that Wasp escaped."

"Exactly," Prowl said triumphantly. "Why should Bumblebee, who's only met Wasp once and in a courtroom at that, be so terrified of him? It doesn't make any sense unless…" Prowl's voice drifted off as he looked meaningfully at Optimus.

"Unless what?" Optimus asked. Prowl merely raised an optic ridge as Optimus's optics suddenly narrowed. "You don't honestly think that Wasp was responsible for that do you?"

"Why not? It makes perfect sense," the black-and-gold ninja bot argued, leaning forward across the rec room table. "According to Bulkhead on the same day that Wasp escaped he received an anonymous note telling him to go to the planet where he saw Wasp. That sounds just a little suspicious to me."

"I suppose you're right," Optimus admitted rather reluctantly.

"And, no offense to Bulkhead, he's just a little naïve about some things. It probably never occurred to him that Wasp might be the one responsible."

"Responsible for what?" a voice from behind Prowl asked, causing both bots to jump.

"You scared us, Ratchet," Optimus gasped, placing a servo over his spark chamber, feeling his spark trying to settle back to its normal rhythm.

"Sorry," Ratchet said as he sat down at the table with them, not looking apologetic in the least. "Responsible for what?"

Prowl and Optimus exchanged glances then Optimus said, "We were discussing whether or not we thought Wasp was responsible for Bumblebee's accident."

Ratchet didn't look surprised but merely nodded; a thoughtful look on his faceplate. "Wasp could have been responsible," he said. "Bumblebee's memory chips from that time are scrambled beyond repair and the rest are so jumbled up I couldn't make any sense out of them," he admitted.

Optimus checked his chronometer then rose to his pedes saying, "Well as interesting as this conversation is we should be arriving on Earth any moment now so we might want to go ahead and make our way to the cargo bay."

"Probably a good idea," Ratchet said as he and Prowl stood as well then followed Optimus.

Thankfully the landing wasn't quite as rough as it had been the last time for which Optimus was eternally grateful. He didn't think his frame could have survived it a second time. All the same it was still rather difficult to get off as he was nearly trampled by Bumblebee who immediately began trying to climb a tree the second his pedes touched the ground.

"I can't believe we're on Earth again," Optimus moaned as he stepped aside to let Bulkhead out.

"I know exactly what you mean," the big green mech said gravely. "I mean it was kinda fun to travel to another dimension and all that but still I'm just glad we're on our Earth."

"Especially since the other Earth had those pit-spawned twins Sideswipe and Sunstreaker," Ratchet grunted. "They were worse than the Jettwins."

"What happened to the Jettwins anyway?" Prowl asked.

* * *

><p>Meanwhile…Prowl was enjoying his day as it had turned out to be peaceful so far which, while it had been a rarity before, only happened once every few months thanks to the three new additions that had suddenly appeared without any warning. Not entirely sure how to return them to their home, Optimus Prime had given them an empty room where, no doubt, the head of their little trio was probably recharging. Prowl wasn't sure where the two smaller Autobots were which made him slightly worried as it meant they were probably playing another prank. What was it about twins and pranks anyway?<p>

His thoughts were interrupted by the bots in question as two blue and orange blurs flew down the hallway, knocking the datapads that Prowl had been holding in his servos to the floor. "Brother and I be sorry," one of the twins called before they disappeared.

Prowl glared after them then looked at the jumbled up pile of datapads on the floor before bending over to pick them up. He had just gotten them re-arranged when Sideswipe and Sunstreaker came zooming down the hall, knocking Prowl flat on his back and scattering the datapads again. "Sorry," Sideswipe apologized breathlessly as he and his brother turned the corner.

Prowl could feel his right optic beginning to twitch as he slowly rose to a sitting position and began stacking the datapads once more. Just as he finished however he heard two mighty roars of rage then the sound of heavy footfalls before both Ironhide's appeared, their armor covered in pink paint and weapons at the ready.

"Where did those fraggers go?" the orange Ironhide demanded.

Normally Prowl wouldn't tell a very furious Ironhide where to find the objects of his wrath but Prowl was fed up; he was tired of the pranks and everything else so he pointed in the direction where both sets of twins had gone then went with the weapons specialists', leaving the pile of datapads on the floor behind him.

* * *

><p>The drive to Detroit was quiet…again. Optimus didn't know what it was about Earth that seemed to always sober Bumblebee but today he felt the same somberness overtaking him as well. Apparently the other three felt the same way for they were all silent. The only sounds coming from them the rumbling of their engines or the tires screeching when they took a corner too sharply.<p>

It wasn't long before they reached Motor City and Sumdac Towers. It looked the same as it had last time yet the ground around the tall building was infinitely different. Last time it had been brown and slightly squishy. Now it was green with purple and other colors thrown haphazardly though it.

"What is that?" Prowl asked, indicating one of the colored objects.

'"Those are flowers," Bumblebee explained. "Humans plant them to make the ground look pretty."

"I see." It was obvious from the way the motorcycle sat that he didn't explain but Bumblebee didn't explain any more.

Once again they waited in the parking lot for what seemed like hours. Optimus resisted the temptation to sheck his internal chronometer and see how much time had passed; instead he observed their surroundings and watched the organic creatures go about their daily lives. How anyone could stand going around all day without an alt mode confused the red-and-blue bot but he didn't comment on it, figuring that was their choice.

Finally they spotted the two humans they were looking for or, more accurately, Prowl spotted them then informed the others. They watched the humans enter the tall building and then waited some more. Having been warned earlier that they were going to be in the parking lot for a while Optimus decided to use the opportunity to take a stasis nap and told Prowl to wake him up later. By the time Optimus re-awoke it was night, the moon shining brightly over the city, casting shadows on the pavement and bathing the Transformers with its golden light like a beacon beckoning to travelers afar off.

"What are we doing?" Prowl asked quietly, as if afraid that anything louder than a whisper would disturb the planet's inhabitants.

"We're going to leave Professor Sumdac a gift," Bumblebee answered.

"What kind of gift?" Ratchet grunted.

"Oh nothing much," Bumblebee said airily, "just some technology and instructions on how to use it."

"But no weapons right?" Bulkhead asked worriedly. "Right?" no answer. "Right?"

"Of course not," Bumblebee sounded slightly indignant. "Would I give weapons to a violent, primitive race?"

The answer was resounding and immediate. "Yes!" they all said.

"Meanies," Bumblebee grumbled.

A/N: The next chapter will have Bumblebee's accident-I promise.

A/N/N: 15 reviews, will accept 10.

A/N/N/N: If anyone was wondering why they went to Earth it was because Bumblebee is worried that he's never going to see any of them ever again so he wanted to go ahead and check up on Sari one last time.

A/N/N/N/N: If anyone was wondering: yes, Ironhide and the Jettwins are still in the G1 dimension.


	11. Flashbacks: The Accident

Smugglers 3: The Beginning Is The End

Chapter 10: Flashbacks: The Accident

Bumblebee made his way through the streets to where his ship was docked, for once not feeling the usual rush of adrenaline he got right before a mission. For some reason he felt…nervous, something he was not accustomed to feeling as he considered it a weakness, a hindrance much like friends. Both often interfered with one's desired performance or caused one to do stupid things, such as what he was about to do.

He entered his ship and made his way to the control room where he started the engines, half-hoping they wouldn't. The engines, however, came to life almost immediately with a powerful roar. He entered the coordinates into his navigational system, then sat back and waited. The trip took about thirty minutes thanks to his super-fast engines but it felt as if only a moment had passed since he took off.

Once there Bumblebee exited the ship and just stood, optics sweeping the area to determine what threats there were. On the other side of the hill made out of rocks was an unidentified minibot. Bumblebee's optics narrowed as his gaze covered the rest of the planet but, seeing no other threat (at least none that his x-ray vision could find) began making his way to where the currently unidentified bot was.

Wasp tried to contain his gleeful grin but was unable. He was about to get his revenge on the bot who had testified against him and nothing was going to stop him. He heard the sound of engines and his grin grew wider if that was even possible. He tensed, his frame quivering with excitement as he heard the sound of someone drawing closer and closer, not paying any attention to the fact that the steps were far too light to belong to his prey. Soon the figure reached the rock wall and came around it. Wasp raised his weapon only to lower it almost immediately. "You're not Bulkhead!" he accused.

"No I'm not," the yellow minibot agreed, looking slightly amused. "I figured you were the one who sent Bulkhead that note so I figured it would be better if I came instead."

"I didn't think he was that much of a coward," Wasp commented, raising an optic ridge.

"Actually I drugged him," the other bot admitted.

"With what?" Wasp asked, trying not to look surprised.

The yellow minibot rattled off the name causing Wasp's jaw to fall open in shock. Only medics and assassins knew about that particular drug and as there were no markings identifying him as a medic Wasp was forced to come to only one conclusion; he was facing another assassin.

His optics narrowed and he began to raise the EMP he held in his servos only for the other bot to leap forward, throwing Wasp to the ground. The two bots rolled around on the rocks, both of them ignoring the dents that were forming in their frames as they battled for dominance, paying the EMP that had been thrown to the side no mind.

Eventually Bumblebee wound up flat on his back, Wasp on top. The yellow bot tried pushing Wasp off but to no avail. Suddenly Bumblebee stopped struggling and lay completely still. Wasp chuckled and was just about to blast the seemingly unconscious mech when Bumblebee sat up, pushing Wasp at the same time causing the green minibot to fall off while his yellow counterpart stood up and fell into a classic fighting post, fists held high.

Wasp laughed and followed suit, the two minibots circling each other, eyeing their opponent warily. Wanting to test the other mech's skills Wasp threw the first punch; a blow to the faceplate which was blocked easily. "Very good," Wasp said. "I'm impressed. What's your name?"

"Bumblebee," the yellow minibot answered after a couple minutes of hesitation.

Wasp almost blew a gasket right then and there. There was no smuggler or assassin who hadn't heard of Bumblebee although none had met him and lived to tell the tale…except for a very strange smuggler named Jazz. But Bumblebee was rumored to be the coldest, most ruthless assassin that ever lived. There were those who said that he was worse than Megatron.

"I've heard of you," he said cautiously. "There are lots of stories floatin around out there. Now if they're all true I can't help but wonder: what is a killer like you doing protecting a bot like Bulkhead? I know it's not for the credits 'cuz he certainly doesn't have any. He's too clumsy and stupid to be of any use to you so why? There is absolutely no reason why unless…" his voice trailed off as he stared thoughtfully at Bumblebee then slowly he began to grin then burst out laughing.

"Unless what?" Bumblebee asked suspiciously.

"You actually care about him don't you? That's why you're here; to protect your friend."

"He's not my friend!" Bumblebee yelled then threw a punch aimed for Wasp's chassis. The green minibot blocked it then retaliated with a vicious kick to Bumblebee's interfacing equipment that sent him sprawling.

"You know you're not as tough as I thought you would be," Wasp frowned. "It's quite disappointing actually."

"You ain't seen nothin yet," Bumblebee growled as he stood back up.

"For a loser you sure are persistent," Wasp commented.

The next twenty minutes were spent battling each other, splitting their time between rolling on the ground and throwing well-placed punches and kicks. It is quite possible that Bumblebee would have won had he not backed up and tripped on a rock, falling to the ground. He lay there, stunned. As he lay there he turned to look at Wasp who was a few feet away then blinked when the green minibot morphed into Bulkhead. Images flashed before his optics, memories that hadn't happened yet playing for him to see. He saw himself sitting on Bulkhead's shoulder strut with Jazz sitting next to them and across the table from them were three unfamiliar bot; one was red-and-blue, one was slender with black-and-gold paint while the third had the red-and-white markings of a medic. They all looked so happy yet watching them made Bumblebee feel rather sad.

He blinked again and discovered that while he had been daydreaming Wasp had retrieved the EMP (now slightly dented) and was standing directly in front of him. Bumblebee wasn't very surprised that Wasp had an EMP; he himself had gotten one from Lockdown who had 'acquired' it from some medibot named Ratchet. "Are you going to kill me now?" Bumblebee asked, his voice surprisingly calm even as he calculated the chances of him being able to overpower his opponent.

"I have to," Wasp explained. "You know that."

"Yes I do," Bumblebee sighed, rising to his pedes so that he was now facing his soon-to-be killer.

"Before I do off-line you just tell me one thing; is your friend worth dying for?"

Bumblebee frowned and looked past Wasp, memories of the past few days and that first fateful meeting running through his processor. Bulkhead had once said that Bumblebee had saved his life. What he didn't know was that he had it backwards. Bumblebee had been on the fast track of life, out of control and heading for a cliff but Bulkhead had saved him; pulled Bumblebee to safety. Was it worth it? Was Bulkhead really worth dying for? So Bumblebee raised his head and said, "Yes." He didn't flinch when the full force of the EMP hit him, nor did he cry out. His last thought was, _Thank you, Bulkhead,_ then everything went black.

A/N: 15 reviews, will accept 10.

A/N/N: This chapter is the main reason why I made Wasp out to be an assassin because I knew that he was going to overpower Bumblebee and therefore needed to have Bumblebee's skills.


	12. Kidnapped!

Smugglers 3: The Beginning Is The End

Chapter 11: Kidnapped!

A/N: In the last chapter Wasp when used the EMP he originally had it set to kill (an EMP can kill a bot as well but only if it's set really, really high) but it was damaged in the fight and so that's why Bumblebee's memories were scrambled. I hope this explanation makes sense but if it doesn't please let me know (preferably through a signed review) and I will try to explain it better. Also I would like to ask that you either sign in or get an account on fanfiction so that I might address your concerns better and faster. Please and thank you.

A/N/N: Yes Bumblebee had a flash of the future and as for feeling sad it's because he knows that his time with them is coming to an end.

"Vhere are they?" Blitzwing's Hothead personality demanded. "You said they vould be in the Bassan Galaxy."

Wasp sighed and tried not to lose his temper which was next to impossible at the moment. After spending an entire week with the three, technically five, Decepticons was enough to drive a bot insane! If he hadn't been insane before he certainly was now, he thought sourly. "Bot say big green bot come this way often," he said, referring to the store owner who had been more than happy to tell them exactly which direction _The Smuggler_ had last been seen going.

"He could have been lying," Blitzwing protested.

"Wasp threaten him with death. No bot wish to die; except for yellow bot," he added as an afterthought.

"That wouldn't be the same yellow bot that the store owner said had a nervous breakdown in his store would it?" Slipstream questioned from her position across the room, leaning against the wall.

"No," Wasp denied, shaking his head rapidly. "Wasp destroy yellow bot. Yellow be dead!" Wasp was so worked up that his optics were beginning to turn red.

"Okay, okay," Slipstream held up her servos in surrender. "It's a different yellow minibot."

Wasp subsided, his optics returning to their usual violet.

"Do we even have a plan?" Skywarp whined.

"Wasp get revenge on big green bot."

"That's some plan," Slipstream said sarcastically.

"Vy are ve helping him?" Blitzwing asked; his voice no louder than a whisper.

"Because he had an intact ship," Slipstream hissed, "and we wanted to get back at the yellow minibot who's traveling with the green bot he," she gestured to Wasp, "is chasing."

"Oh," Blitzwing fell silent then, "vhy do ve vant to get back at the yellow minibot?"

Slipstream groaned and began banging her head against the wall in a desperate attempt to send herself into emergency stasis.

* * *

><p>Several hours later found the Decepticons and Wasp rapidly approaching Earth's atmosphere. None of the Decepticons were entirely sure if this was where they were supposed to be but none of them really wanted to ask Wasp so they stayed silent, exchanging worried glances all the while. Finally Slipstream had had enough. Rising from her console she walked over to Wasp and directed one of her glares at him; he didn't even flinch. "Why are we here?" she demanded.<p>

"Decepticons board Wasp's ship after it be fixed," Wasp replied.

Slipstream's faceplate turned crimson and she said through clenched denta, "I am aware of that. What I meant was why are we at this particular planet? There are nine planets in this galaxy; what makes you so sure they're on this one?"

"This be only planet with Cybertonian energy signatures. Femme say green bot travel with four other bots; planet have five energy signatures," he explained.

Slipstream's faceplate turned red again but from embarrassment this time and not rage. She merely nodded and sat back down in front of her console, refusing to meet the optics of her fellow Decepticons.

What exactly happened next Blitzwing was never sure. One second he had been telling Wasp that they were coming down too fast and the next he was waking up to find himself on the floor, his view obscured by something metallic and purple. He groaned as he tried to sit up and almost immediately regretted it. The room was spinning, much like the brightly-colored toys that sparklings like to play with. Somewhere in front of him was a large purple blob that appeared to be floating. He blinked several times then tapped his optics lightly and was soon able to discern that the purple blob was, in reality, Slipstream with Skywarp draped over her chassis.

"That vas not fun," Blitzwing said seriously, all three of his personalities agreeing before Random took over and said, "can ve do it again?"

"Never again am I coming to this planet," the Decepticon femme vowed as she shoved her fellow clone off before she attempted to stand.

"I don't want to land with him period," Skywarp said.

"Wasp not crash; that be good landing," the pilot declared as he marched over to a console and began punching buttons.

"You better hope we don't get stuck here permanently," Slipstream muttered, shooting the minibot a threatening look which he ignored in favor of staring at the screen in front of him.

"Energy signatures getting close," he announced.

* * *

><p>Earth wasn't so bad Optimus supposed as long as he didn't get stuck here permanently. The very idea made him shudder fearfully as he remembered those harrowing few days. Even Ratchet didn't like to think about it as there were some things he would prefer not to remember. Optimus and Prowl were inclined to agree with him.<p>

Currently Optimus, Ratchet and Bulkhead were driving aimlessly through the streets of Detroit sight-seeing as it were. Bumblebee had decided to leave his gifts for the Professor today so Prowl had been elected to stay behind and keep an optic on him just to make sure he didn't leave anything…dangerous much to Prowl's displeasure.

Optimus wasn't really sure what they were supposed to do; after all they were several times taller than the local inhabitants not to mention the fact that they looked like modes of transportation. So Optimus found himself wondering if they were just going to drive around all day and look at stuff because, quite frankly, he was getting very bored of looking at buildings.

Thankfully Bulkhead seemed to sense his growing restlessness and turned left, taking them down a dirt road which, if the rumbling of his engine was anything to go by, Ratchet was not very happy about. They stayed on that dirt road for another ten minutes before Bulkhead turned again and suddenly they were facing the woods.

The woods did not look inviting in the least. A grim line of trees guarded the entrance like soldiers protecting a castle. The only way in and out of the forest was a very bumpy looking dirt road littered with dead leaves and fallen tree limbs reminding Optimus of a holopic he had seen once of a road in Cybertron during the Great War covered in energon and off-lined bots turnin pieces. Despite the fact the trees were clearly off-lined, beyond them he could just barely make out green leaves and trees that were still on-line.

"Why are we here?" Ratchet grunted.

"Because this is one of the few places that Bumblebee refuses to set pede in," Bulkhead explained, "and I thought you might want a little peace and quiet before we head back into space."

"Peace and quiet does sound good," Ratchet admitted.

* * *

><p>"Vhere are they? I don't see them," Blitzwing said as he attempted to locate the bots that belonged to the energy signatures that had popped up on the console's screen earlier.<p>

"If somebody would move out of my way I might be able to see," Slipstream said, giving Skywarp an accusatory look.

"What did I do?"

Wasp growled and magnified his x-ray vision. He could see three bots, one of them Bulkhead's size. "Big green bot be in trees with two other bots," he pointed. "You retrieve. Wasp only want big green bot alive."

"I think we can handle that," Slipstream said, smiling.

"Yes ve certainly can," Blitzwing agreed.

* * *

><p>Surprisingly after you drove more than ten feet into the forest it was actually rather pretty. Instead of being bare and gray with branches so brittle that if you tapped one it fell off, they were green and bushy, the branches hard yet pliable stretching out towards the Autobots as if begging to be released from their prison. Some of the trees even had flowers, sweet-smelling buds of white and pink.<p>

Optimus was just beginning to drift into recharge when suddenly Prowl's voice sounded urgently in his audio sensors. "What is it, Prowl?" he asked, only half-listening but what he heard caused him to jerk awake in alarm. "What do you mean there are other bots here?" he demanded, transforming and ignoring Ratchet and Bulkhead who were now looking at him.

"Bumblebee picked up four extra energy signatures and they're heading straight towards you," Prowl said in that infuriatingly calm voice of his.

"Got it," Optimus closed the com-link and informed his two companions of Bumblebee's discovery.

"As long as it's not Decepticons I don't guess we have anything to worry about," Bulkhead said, scratching his head.

"And if it is?" Ratchet asked.

"In that case we're doomed," was the immediate answer.

* * *

><p>"So how are we going to do this?" Skywarp asked. "With all of these trees in the way we won't be able to fly low enough to capture the one we're after."<p>

"Unfortunately you're right about that," Slipstream admitted with a frown then snapped her digits as something occurred to her. "Why don't you warp down there, grab the green bot, then warp to the ship?" she suggested.

"Okay," Skywarp said before disappearing.

"Vhy didn't you think of that vhen ve vhere stuck on that planet?" Blitzwing asked curiously.

Slipstream opened her mouth to reply then closed it and frowned as she realized, "I don't know."

* * *

><p>It all happened so fast that years later when questioned about it all Optimus could say was, "One minute we were just standing there then Skywarp appeared, grabbed Bulkhead and disappeared." He was not very forthcoming with further details because there weren't any except for a few, non-relevant things.<p>

The two friends taped at the empty space where Bulkhead had been minutes before. Then they slowly turned to look at each other and Ratchet said, "You do realize that one of us has to tell Bumblebee what happened."

Optimus groaned and replied, "I would have preferred to get kidnapped."

Slowly, reluctantly they transformed and began the long drive back, each one dreading what they were about to do.

A/N/N/N: 15 reviews, will be satisfied with 10. Thanks for all of the reviews so far and please keep 'em coming!


	13. Flashbacks: Finding Bumblebee

Smugglers 3: The Beginning Is The End

Chapter 12: Flashbacks: Finding Bumblebee

Bulkhead awoke slowly, feeling slightly disorientated he began to stretch only to freeze when his servos didn't bump the wall like they normally did but instead hit the air. Feeling a sense of dread beginning to grow in the bottom of his tanks he carefully opened both optics and felt relief wash over him when he realized that he must have fallen into recharge o the couch the night before. Frowning, he tried to recall the events that had led to his current position. There had been the race followed by the police chase then he had received an anonymous letter; Bumblebee had tried to talk him out of going then got them some energon…wait an astrosecond. The energon; that was it! Knowing Bumblebee he had probably put something in it to make Bulkhead go to sleep…which meant he was probably on his way to the planet now. Immediately Bulkhead sprang to his pedes and rushed out the door, not bothering to lock it behind him.

* * *

><p>Wasp chuckled gleefully as his ship began to lift off from the planet. "You know," he said to himself thoughtfully. I'm going to become famous. Who would've ever thought that I, Wasp, would kill the mighty Bumblebee? Who would believe…" his voice trailed off and he scowled at the console. "Who would ever believe me? No one would. Unless they had proof," he turned the ship around and was soon back at the planet. It took only a few minutes then <em>The Smuggler <em>was securely attached to _The Waspinator_. Evil grin firmly in place and precious cargo coming behind Wasp took off once again, not even noticing that the earlier fight with Bumblebee had damaged his EMP beyond repair…

* * *

><p>Due to traffic and two riots it took Bulkhead close to three hours before he finally reached the docks. He came to a stop and just stared at the empty spot where <em>The Smuggler<em> had been just the day before. As he stood there staring the rest of the world began to fade away until all that remained was the empty space. Somewhere in the background he could hear the sound of bots talking and laughing, generally having a good time. He paid them no attention but continued to stare, one thought running through his processor, _If something happened to Bee I'm to blame._

Eventually however he snapped out of his daze and began searching for a way to the planet. His optics landed on a ship not far away, its pilot facing in the opposite direction. Not finding it in himself to care that what he was about to do was not only dangerous but highly illegal Bulkhead took a deep breath then started to run, making it onto the other ship in record time. Once onboard he quickly shut the landing dock doors then made his way into the control room. When he entered the room he immediately entered the correct coordinates and, giving the engines full power, sat back in the captain's chair and continued to worry.

* * *

><p>Wasp was officially no longer the happiest bot in the world; his ship was now malfunctioning. It was painfully obvious that those bumbling idiots at the impound hadn't even tried to fix the damage his ship had sustained the day he was captured. It wouldn't have been so bad except for the fact that the most heavily damaged section of the ship was the area that controlled <em>The Waspinator's<em> towing function. Basically it meant that he had to let _The Smuggler _go. He sighed heavily and with a mournful look released _The Smuggler_ then continued until he could no longer see it.

* * *

><p>The closer Bulkhead drew to the planet the more nervous and scared that he felt. He tried to tell himself that he was getting all worked up over nothing but he didn't quite believe himself. When he finally arrived only to find that <em>The Smuggler<em> wasn't there he nearly talked himself into turning around and going back. Nearly that is. But something just wouldn't let him. Something was telling him to stay and look around the planet. He could hear Bumblebee's voice in his audio sensors saying, "When in doubt, Bulkhead, go with your gut. You can always trust your gut. Well maybe not your guy but you can always trust mine; it's never led me wrong yet. Except for that one time but otherwise…"

The voice died and Bulkhead sighed, reluctantly climbing out of the ship. He went straight to the rock wall that he had hidden behind on his last visit and cautiously peered around it, fearful of what he would find. What he saw almost caused his spark to stop completely and his optics to widen. There, in the center of the rocks, lay a small, yellow bot.

For a second he couldn't move then broke into a run, moving faster than he ever had in his entire life. He skidded to a stop alongside the bot then fell to his knees, turning the figure over. It was Bumblebee, his optics completely dark and his armor was rapidly turning gray.

"Oh, Bee," Bulkhead said mournfully as he gathered the little bot in his arms and ran back to the ship, praying all the while that wasn't too late for his little buddy.

A/N: Sorry this chapter's so short but I couldn't stretch it out any more.

A/N/N: 15 reviews, will be satisfied with 10.

A/N/N/N: The next chapter will have MAJOR character death. (That doesn't necessarily mean that I'm going to kill off two or more characters it just means that someone who has been in all three Smugglers stories will die.)

A/N/N/N/N: The next chapter will be very late tomorrow night and I'm sorry that this one was so late but my internet stopped working and just now came back on.


	14. The Final Showdown

Smugglers 3: The Beginning Is The End

Chapter 13: The Final Showdown

When he had informed Bumblebee of the news that Bulkhead had been kidnapped Optimus wasn't exactly sure what he thought would happen. Oh he had imagined the mother of all temper tantrums, a couple of new dents maybe even an explosion or two; anything except Bumblebee merely nodding his head and asking if they knew what direction Skywarp had gone.

"No," Optimus replied eyeing him warily.

"Oh, well," Bumblebee said, "that just means we'll have to track them the old-fashioned way." He walked over to a console and pressed a button. Almost immediately five blips appeared on the screen, blinking. "That's Bulkhead," Bumblebee pointed to one of the blips that was surrounded by four little triangles.

"If that's Bulkhead then who are those?" Optimus asked, indicating the other four blips on the screen.

"Those are, uh, us."

"Why do they look so different?" Optimus was determined not to let Bumblebee wriggle away from the answer so easily.

"Well that might have something to do with the tracking beacons that I planted on each of you," Bumblebee said, nervously rubbing the back of his neck.

"You did what?" the three former Elite Guard members looked furious, each of them now trying to locate the tracking devices.

"You'll never find them," Bumblebee looked very proud of himself. "I hid them well."

"So what now?" Optimus asked, deciding that they could discuss the tracking devices later. "Do we even have a plan?"

"I always have a plan," Bumblebee sounded insulted.

"Well let's hear it," Prowl said, crossing his arms.

"I'm working on it," came the reply.

* * *

><p>Bulkhead was not a very happy mech. First he had been kidnapped by Skywarp then he had been brought to a strange ship which had taken off not long afterwards and to top matters off he had been stuck in this cargo bay for hours. He had long ago given up on trying to get out of the stasis cuffs, deciding to leave those for Bumblebee. He perked up when he heard the sound of footsteps that were drawing closer. He knew it wasn't Bumblebee but at least he could ask the Decepticons what they were going to do to him…not that he really wanted to know. Soon the owner of the footsteps rounded the corner but it wasn't who Bulkhead was expecting. "Wasp?" he gasped.<p>

"Surprised?" the green minibot asked then chuckled. "Big green bot surprised; not suspect Wasp. Wasp have upper servo."

"You're insane," Bulkhead said evenly as he eyed the minibot.

"Wasp go crazy in jail; plan revenge on big green bot. Revenge fixing to be had."

_Bee, I really hope that you hurry up and get me out of here,_ Bulkhead thought silently.

* * *

><p>"Okay, they have almost an hour's head start but it won't take us long to catch up," Bumblebee said. "But before we do that we're going to need some better weapons," with that he turned and left the control room.<p>

Optimus, Prowl, and Ratchet exchanged confused glances before hurrying to follow the yellow minibot. They walked behind him then frowned when he stopped in front of the mysterious door that had been declared off-limits the first time they ever came on board. Excitement filled their frames as Bumblebee entered the code to unlock the door and it slid open.

"Come on in," Bumblebee invited as he stepped inside the room.

Needing no further encouragement the three taller bots entered the room as well only to stop once they were inside and stare in amazement at the sight they were presented with. The room was, quite literally, filled with…trophies of a sort. The majority of the items were weapons of all shapes and sizes while the rest were helms, upgrades, pieces of armor…you name it, it was in there.

Just looking at the stuff made Ratchet flash back to the time had and a young femme bot, Arcee, had been held captive on a ship owned by a bounty hunter named Lockdown; he had lost his EMP that day…suddenly his optics narrowed as he caught sight of an innocent looking device sitting on one of the shelves. He grabbed it then turned to Bumblebee and demanded, "How did you get my EMP?"

Bumblebee's mouth opened and closed several times before he finally just shook his head and said, "I don't remember but I'm pretty sure I got it from an acquaintance of mine."

"His name wouldn't happen to be Lockdown would it?"

"It might be."

Prowl decided to ignore Ratchet and Bumblebee at the moment and instead see if there was anything he could use. He scoured the top shelves and was about to give up when he saw it; a black and gold helm, more decorative than anything else. The beauty however was not what had caught Prowl's attention but his knowledge of its previous wearer; Yoketron had been the one who had taught Prowl the ancient art of ninjitsu. "Where did you get this?" he demanded, holding it in front of Bumblebee.

Bumblebee said nothing but touched the helm instead, running a digit over the front of it, a sad look on his faceplate. "I don't remember," he said at last.

The minibot abruptly turned away from Prowl and stalked out of the room. The three remaining bots looked at each other, shrugged, then hurriedly followed him.

* * *

><p>It wasn't long before they caught up to the Decepticons, although they remained undetected thanks to Bumblebee's cloaking device. The engines had been turned off earlier so they silently drew next to the other ship, being extremely careful not to bump it.<p>

"Alright," Bumblebee said as he prepared to extend the landing dock. "Bulkhead should be in one of the cargo bays. Whoever finds him first let the others know then come back to the ship. I don't really have time to rescue two bots so please try not to get caught." The loading dock opened and they walked down the ramp. "Oh, no," Bumblebee moaned, stopping dead in his tracks.

"What's wrong?" Optimus asked worriedly.

"Bulkhead's gonna kill me when he learns about this plan!" Bumblebee said, causing the others to groan even as they continued, stopping only when they reached the other ship. Bumblebee did his thing and soon they were onboard. They split up, each one checking a different room.

Bumblebee opened the door to what he presumed was a cargo bay and peeked inside. In the middle of the room was Bulkhead. He was in energon cuffs but he was still online. "Bulkhead!" Bumblebee squealed happily then slapped a servo over his mouth. "Sorry," he whispered sheepishly as all four bots turned and scowled at him.

"There you are, Bulkhead," Optimus said as he, Prowl, and Ratchet came to stand inside the door, none of them the least bit surprised that it had been Bumblebee who had found their missing comrade.

"We need to get out now," Bulkhead said urgently, his optics darting around the room nervously as if expecting the very shadows to come to life.

Not liking the look on Bulkhead's faceplate Optimus nodded his agreement and said, "Let's go. Bumblebee, you can let him out of the cuffs later. I don't want to stay on this ship any longer than I have to."

"I'm coming, I'm coming," Bumblebee grumbled just as the cuffs fell off. "You're free, Bulky," he cried excitedly.

"Can we go now?" Optimus asked rather impatiently. He didn't like being on this ship; forget about the Decepticons he just had this feeling that something bad was about to happen.

"Yeah," Bulkhead said as he stood and placed Bumblebee on his shoulder strut.

They walked back down the hallway and were almost to the loading docks when Skywarp appeared in front of them along with Slipstream and Blitzwing, both of whom had their weapons pointed at the Autobots.

"Slag," Optimus cursed as they came to a stop.

"At least the day can't get any worse," Prowl commented.

"Don't say that!" Bumblebee cried. "You'll jinx us!"

As if on cue they could hear footsteps drawing closer and closer to where they stood.

"See," Bumblebee said triumphantly. "I told you so."

Suddenly the footsteps stopped. The five friends turned and standing in the doorway was a minibot, his helm and faceplate shaped almost exactly like a triangle and his armor was a rather…interesting shade of green. Bulkhead gulped audibly while Bumblebee started whimpering and hid his faceplate in the crook between Bulkhead's neck joint and shoulder strut.

"Big green bot try to escape but Wasp too smart for that," the previously unknown bot announced.

"This is Wasp?" Optimus raised an optic ridge. He hadn't exactly been expecting Wasp to be so…so like Bumblebee.

"Tall bot have problem with Wasp?" Wasp asked, turning his servos into stingers.

"No," Optimus said quickly, holding his servos up in a placating manner.

"Big green bot stupid," Wasp said abruptly. "Friends pay price; not big green bot. Yellow bot die for stupidity."

Confused, Optimus exchanged glances with Ratchet and Prowl who just shrugged their shoulder struts while comprehension suddenly dawned on Bulkhead's faceplate. "You're the one who did that to Bee," he said.

"Wasp destroy yellow bot. Yellow bot weak and stupid."

Wrong thing to say, Optimus thought, wincing internally as a murderous look began to grow on Bulkhead's faceplate while a growl emitted from his throat. Slowly, deliberately Bulkhead lifted Bumblebee from his shoulder strut and placed him in Optimus's waiting arms then launched himself at Wasp, a roar of rage escaping his mouth.

"Vell vhat now?" Blitzwing asked.

"Now we kill them all," Slipstream said then began shooting at the Autobots, Blitzwing and Skywarp following her example.

"Stay behind me, Bumblebee," Optimus ordered as he shoved the yellow minibot behind him.

"But Bulkhead," Bumblebee protested.

Optimus risked a glance and saw that Bulkhead was currently beating Wasp's chassis with his massive servos. "I think he'll be fine for now," Optimus said, his battle mask effectively covering the lower half of his faceplate as he pulled out his axe. Prowl and Ratchet did the same, battle masks coming out as well as their weapons including Ratchet's recently restored EMP.

Bumblebee paid no further attention to the Decepticons or even his friends. Instead he sat huddled in a corner, hugging his knees and muttering, "It was an accident," over and over again as flashes of memory played in his processor.

No one was exactly sure how long the fight lasted as it seemed to take forever to those who were fighting. More than likely it only took a few minutes but that was more than long enough for Wasp to overpower Bulkhead despite the larger bot's size and fury. Wasp was just about to kill Bulkhead when he happened to catch sight of Bumblebee. "What?" he shrieked. "Yellow bot survive? No bot survive Wasp!" Infuriated he fired at Bumblebee who glanced up just in time to see two green streams of electricity coming straight at him. His optics widened and he tensed, waiting to be hit. What happened next would be burned in Optimus's memory for all eternity.

Bulkhead saw Wasp fire at Bumblebee as well. He rose from the floor and jumped in front of Bumblebee shouting, "No!" horrified, the Autobots watched as Bulkhead's armor absorbed the blast hen the big green body hit the floor with a thud.

The silence that reigned momentarily was broken by Bumblebee who let out a loud wail and rushed to his fallen friend's side, Ratchet joining him. The medic did something then looked up shaking his head even as the last ounce of color drained from Bulkhead's body. "He didn't make it," the red-and-white bot said sadly.

Upon hearing that Bumblebee's optics flashed red and he stood, bringing his weapons online even as he marched towards Wasp, looking for all the world like an Angel of Death. Had it been any other bot Optimus would have been tempted to feel sorry for them but today he felt rather glad at the knowledge that Wasp was going to get exactly what he deserved.

Wasp swallowed nervously when he saw the enraged minibot approaching him. "Slag," he cursed, not even having time to duck as Bumblebee's energon sword cut his head off.

After ensuring that Bumblebee had taken care of Wasp Optimus, Prowl, and Ratchet turned to the Decepticons who suddenly looked worried.

"Slipstream," Skywarp said carefully. "Any brilliant ideas?"

"If you have one please tell us now," Blitzwing begged.

"I don't have any ideas," she admitted.

Minutes later all that remained of the Decepticons were three off-lined bodies. That taken care of they turned to see that Bumblebee was still hacking away at Wasp's body, or rather what was left of it.

"Bumblebee," Optimus said gently, laying a servo on the smaller bot's shoulder strut.

Bumblebee stopped mid-swing and turned to look at Optimus, revealing his energon-streaked faceplate despite the fact that Transformers couldn't cry. "He's gone," Bumblebee said in a whisper. "What do I do now?"

Although it felt strange having Bumblebee of all bots ask him that question Optimus answered to the best of his abilities. "Get on the ship," he said softly. "Prowl and Ratchet will take care of…Bulkhead. We'll have a service for him in a few days. Perhaps you should write a eulogy. I think he'd like that."

"Okay," Bumblebee said, then walked up the loading dock and disappeared into the bowels of _The Smuggler._

A/N: Yes I am aware that many of you would like to kill me; however, the story is not yet complete. Kindly wait until then please.

A/N/N: Wasp had his stingers modified; instead of just paralyzing a bot now they can and will kill.

A/N/N/N: 20 reviews, will settle for 15.


	15. Flashbacks: The Hospital

Smugglers 3: The Beginning Is The End

Chapter 14: Flashbacks: The Hospital

At night after all of the visitors had gone home for the day the lights in the hallway dimmed as nurses came to check on their patients one last time. In the ICU there were three bots; one was Bumblebee was hooked up to several different machines and monitors. The nurse who was making sure all of the equipment was hooked up properly turned to the very worried Bulkhead who was sitting by his friend's side and said, "I'm sure he'll be fine."

Bulkhead looked up and managed a weak smile. "Yeah knowing Bumblebee he'll probably wake up any minute and ask where his ship is."

"Maybe so," she agreed, bending over to check a wire that was on the floor. Straightening, she began to walk out of the room and paused in the doorway. "You can stay as long as you like. I'll tell the other nurses to leave you alone."

"Thank you," Bulkhead said as she disappeared down the hallway. He turned back to the unconscious bot lying in the hospital bed. "I hope you're going to be okay, Bee," he whispered. "I don't think I could live with myself if you went off-line."

* * *

><p>Wasp was beginning to wish that he had never agreed to meet Sparkplug on that particular planet. Ever since then everything had gone downhill. As if getting arrested once wasn't enough now he was being pursued by the Elite Guard and they were gaining on him.<p>

If they thought that they were going to catch him without a fight then they were dead wrong. Wasp gave the engines full power and the chase was on. Since he had the advantage there was very little doubt that Wasp would've won had it not been for the asteroid that he hadn't noticed until he hit it. The force was the impact was powerful enough to send Wasp to the floor. As he lay there stunned he could hear the sound of the Elite Guard boarding the ship. He groaned ever so slightly as they approached him and thought, _One day, Bulkhead, I will get my revenge on you._

* * *

><p>Bulkhead had been deep in recharge when he suddenly woke up. He looked around wildly in a desperate attempt to discover what had awoken him. Seeing nothing he shuttered his optics and settled back in the chair only to jerk up when he heard a faint moan. "Bee?" he said excitedly as he looked down at the yellow minibot whose digits were moving ever so slightly.<p>

Bulkhead ran to the door and shouted "Nurse!" before going back to the bed. "Come on, Bee," he coaxed, gently taking hold of Bumblebee's much smaller servo. "You can do it, Bee, I know you can."

Slowly, almost reluctantly, Bumblebee's optic shutters began to flutter then opened to reveal brilliant, baby blue optics.

"You're awake!" Bulkhead cried in delight and pulled Bumblebee into a hug, being mindful of all the wires and the fact that he could easily crush his friend without meaning to. "I'm so glad you're okay," he whispered then pulled back and frowned at the little bot. "Somethin wrong, Bee?" he asked, noticing the confused look on his friend's faceplate.

"Who are you?" Bumblebee asked.

With that Bulkhead's world came crashing down around him.

* * *

><p>First Aid loved being a medic. He loved the feeling that he got whenever he successfully fixed up a bot. it had been worth all those years of studying and preparing to get where he was today. Yet there were times when he wished he had chosen a different career…<p>

"What's wrong with him?"

The voice interrupted his internal musings and First Aid sighed heavily, deciding to be honest with the big green mech sitting in his office looking at him worriedly. "It appears that your friend Bumblebee was struck by an EMP of some sort."

"So does that mean his processor's been wiped clean?" Bulkhead asked, looking slightly confused.

"No," First Aid hastened to assure him. "For some reason the EMP didn't completely erase his memories but merely misplaced them." Seeing that other occupant of the room looked even more confused than he had earlier First Aid attempted to explain further. "He still has all of his memories but they're so jumbled up right now that he can't make sense out of anything anymore. He knows who you are but when he looks at you, instead of automatically knowing your name he might get a flash of memory."

Bulkhead scratched his head and thought about the medic's words then nodded, grinning. "Okay I think I got it now."

The big green mech rose to leave but First Aid's voice stopped him. "Just because remembers you does not mean that he will be the same bot that you remember. More than likely he will develop a new personality; one that is the exact opposite of who he used to be."

The grin disappeared from Bulkhead's faceplate and he nodded his head somberly. "I understand. Thank you."

As he watched the large bot disappear through the door First Aid leaned back in his chair, the sigh that escaped his vocal processor sounding weary. _Now I remember why I hate being a medic,_ he thought to himself.

* * *

><p>The Elite Guard were having a very busy month; capturing and re-capturing Wasp had been the highlight of their week. Now they had Wasp in their custody, heavily guarded of course, and were towing what was left of his ship.<p>

"So what's gonna happen to him?" Red Alert asked, inclining his head in the general direction of the brig where their prisoner was currently residing.

"They're taking him to a maximum security prison," Inferno answered.

Red Alert nodded and was silent for a few minutes then, "Why are the twins guarding him?"

The twins. Sideswipe and Sunstreaker; more Decepticon attributes than Autobot and participators in almost every riot. "Because Wasp has already escaped once and we didn't want to take any chances. Besides what bot would be stupid enough to take them on?"

"I guess you're right," Red Alert agreed.

Suddenly one of the consoles began beeping. Inferno looked at it and frowned. "According to this there's an abandoned ship not far ahead of us."

"What do you mean abandoned?" Red Alert demanded. "The nearest planet is unoccupied."

Inferno heaved a sigh and said "I don't know, Red. Let's two it and we can always leave it at the impound lot; maybe put up a poster or two."

Red Alert continued to grumble but he did help Inferno attach the ship before they took off again, _The Smuggler_ coming along behind them.

A/N: 15 reviews, will accept 10.


	16. Farewells

Smugglers 3: The Beginning Is The End

Chapter 15: Farewells

A/N: Heh, heh sorry but I forgot that there is more character death which will take place at the end of this chapter.

Bulkhead's funeral was a sad, somber affair. Bumblebee wrote a splendid five-page eulogy but barely made it through five words before he broke down and was unable to continue. Prowl and Ratchet both said a few words then Optimus said the closing prayer and all too soon it was time. They closed the lid to the stasis pod then jettisoned it into space and watched the coffin until it could no longer be seen then returned to their daily routine.

For the next several weeks the entire ship was on edge as if waiting for something to happen. Then one day something did. They had just reached Cybertron when Bumblebee suddenly announced that he wanted to talk to them. Which was how Optimus, Prowl and Ratchet found themselves in the rec room instead of buying supplies.

"What do you think he wants to talk to us about?" Prowl asked.

"I don't know," Optimus replied.

"Whatever it is he better hurry up," Ratchet grumbled. "I don't have all day."

_I've dealt with my ghost and I've faced all my demons_

The door opened and Bumblebee entered. He gave them a stiff smile then began to pack back and forth along a wall that boasted five windows. The three bots that sat at one of the tables waited patiently as he continued pacing for another two minutes before finally coming to a stop in front of the middle window, facing it. "I want you guys to do something for me." His voice was cold, flat, almost dead-sounding.

_Finally content with a past I regret_

"What?" Optimus asked, careful not to make any promises before he heard the question having learned that lesson the hard way not long after coming on board permanently.

_I've found you find strength in your moment of weakness_

Bumblebee appeared to be struggling with his words. "I want you to take me back to the Asylum that Bulkhead rescued me front," he blurted out quickly.

_For once I'm at peace with myself_

In the stunned silence that followed Optimus, Prowl, and Ratchet exchanged startled glances then Optimus worked up the courage to speak and asked the question that they all were wondering: "Why?"

_I've been burdened with blame, trapped in the past for too long_

Bumblebee turned to look at them and they saw sad, haunted optics staring out at them from a faceplate that was far too old and tired for its years. "No offense to you guys but Bulkhead was the only thing keeping me sane and now that he's gone I would really like to lose what little sanity I have left in private."

_I'm moving on_

Optimus nodded, resignation already beginning to set in. "If that's what you want," he said, wishing that he could just say 'no' but deep down he knew that he couldn't do that no matter how much he wanted to.

_I've lived in this place and I know all the faces_

"It is," Bumblebee didn't sound quite so lost anymore but Optimus realized with a sudden pang in his spark, they had already lost the little yellow bot so Bumblebee's next words didn't come as to big of a surprise. "I don't ever want to see any of you again," he said then he hastened to reassure them. "It's nothing personal, it's just that…" he hesitated, unsure of how to go on. Fortunately Prowl stepped in.

_Each one is different but they're always the same_

"We understand," the ninja bot said kindly.

_They mean me no harm but it's time that I face it_

Bumblebee grinned, it was a mere shadow of his usual exuberance but at least it was a step in the right direction. "I'm ready," he announced.

_They'll never allow me to change_

Optimus rose and stepped forward. "I will escort you there to ensure that you don't get lost," he offered.

_I never thought home would end up where I don't belong_

_I'm moving on_

_I'm moving on at last I can see_

"Thanks," Bumblebee bounded out of the room, pausing just as he reached the doorway to glance back at the three bigger bots. He felt a new sadness start to rise up in his spark but ruthlessly pushed it down. "I won't remember you here," he tapped his cranial unit, "but I'll miss you here," his servo moved downwards until it was directly over his spark chamber, tapping it for emphasis. "Take good care of the ship for me, ok?" then he smiled and disappeared through the door, Optimus right behind him.

_Life has been patiently waiting for me_

_And I know there's no guarantees but I'm not alone_

"We will, kid," Ratchet whispered. "We will," in a voice even lower, "we'll miss you too," then he rose and retreated to his med-bay even as Prowl sat perched in the rafters, neither of them moved for the rest of the day while they mourned the loss of two friends.

_There comes a time in everyone's life_

_When all you can see are the years passing by_

_And I have made up my mind that those days are gone_

Optimus knew sadness or at least he thought he did. He had never known true sadness until he stood on the street corner, watching Bumblebee enter the insane asylum, the heavy steel doors shutting behind him. That was the day he felt an already broken piece of his spark shimmer and then fade out of existence.

_I sold what I could and packed what I couldn't_

"I'm Bumblebee by the way and you're Optimus Prime. Your companions are Prowl and the grumpy one is Ratchet."

_Stopped to fill up on my way out of town_

"What do you mean 'just me'?"

_I loved like I should but lived like I shouldn't_

"Well that's true. I am pretty memorable."

_I had to lose everything to find out_

"What do you think? We're here to rescue you."

_Maybe forgiveness will find me somewhere down this road_

"I happen to know a couple of smugglers who could use, oh I don't know, maybe three new partners?"

_I'm moving on_

_I'm moving on_

How long he stood there with memories swirling in his processor he didn't know but at last he turned to go but just as he did so he caught a glimpse of yellow out of the corner of his optic. His cranial unit swiveled around and he saw Bumblebee sitting next to a window, his optics fixed on something that Optimus couldn't see. The blue-and-red bot gazed at him for a few moments before turning and walking down the street, a heavy burned having been lifted from his spark.

_I'm moving on_

That was the last time any of them ever saw Bumblebee alive.

A year or two later the asylum blew up leaving only a few survivors. Bumblebee wasn't one of them. Optimus, Prowl, and Ratchet positively identified his remains, or rather what was left of him including the strange, peaceful smile on his faceplate…

A/N/N: 15 reviews, will be satisfied with 10.

A/N/N/N: I bet none of you expected Bulkhead to die did you? Not with all of those hints I was dropping, which was my intended purpose.

A/N/N/N/N: I am very sorry about Bumblebee's death but it was absolutely necessary for the rest of the story.

A/N/N/N/N/N: Song is 'Moving On' by Rascal Flatts


	17. Flashbacks: The Asylum BreakOut

Smugglers 3: The Beginning Is The End

Chapter 16: Flashbacks: Asylum Break-Out

It had been a little over a month since Bumblebee's accident. The little bot had been released from the hospital two weeks earlier and was now residing in The Asylum as it was called. Bulkhead was rather nervous; today he was going to go visit Bumblebee for the first time as he was now allowed to have visitors. Bulkhead was nervous but he was worried to. What if Bumblebee still didn't recognize him or, worse, didn't want anything to do with him? Bulkhead shuddered and firmly decided to cross that bridge when he came to it.

* * *

><p>He didn't like the walls. They were a dull gray with some of the paint beginning to peel off. "Why don't you repaint the walls? Give it a really bright color and it'll spruce this place right up," he said to the much taller bot that was currently escorting him down the hall. The bot just grunted and didn't reply. "Hmph," Bumblebee sniffed, crossing his arms. That was just ride. Suddenly he realized that rude rhymed with prude that rhymed with brood and then mood…Cool! The cracks in the wall were actually mouth plates that seemed to be saying something. If Bumblebee was quiet then he could hear them whispering, calling out to him.<p>

"Bumblebee, Bumblebee, run little Bee. Flee while you still can. Trust no one except for the big green one," they seemed to be saying.

He nodded his head solemnly and promised, "I won't."

"Who are you talking to?" his escort grunted.

"The walls," Bumblebee said cheerfully. The guard didn't say anything else but opened the door to Bumblebee's room and shoved the little bot in before locking the door firmly behind him.

Bumblebee picked himself up off the floor and looked around his room. It was in a word, plain. The walls were gray much like the hallways; there was only one window and it was barred. Bumblebee heaved a sigh and went to sit by the window where he usually passed several hours just staring at outside. Occasionally he would get flashes of memory and when that happened he spent the rest of the day cowering under his berth while he struggled to make sense of it all.

How long he was lost in thought he didn't know but when the sound of the door unlocking roused him he frowned. It wasn't time for them to get energon yet. So it was with no small amount of trepidation that he watched it open.

The guard stood in the doorway and said, "You have a visitor."

A visitor? Bumblebee's sensory horns perked up at the news. So far the only visitors he'd had were medics and they usually just walked right on in, not bothering to be announced as they thought their very presence enough introduction.

The bot that entered was most definitely not a medic however he was vaguely familiar…He was tall, two times Bumblebee's height and five times his size. He had dark green armor with silver around his middle. The servos were oversized as was the rest of him and Bumblebee had a sudden flash of a green wrecking ball replacing the thick digits.

"Have fun," the guard said snidely before shutting and re-locking the door.

The two bots remaining just looked at each other, engaging in a silent battle of wills. Eventually the green bot broke the silence by saying, "How ya doin'?"

"I don't know," Bumblebee replied.

The other bot smiled then an awkward silence fell between them again until, "They treating' you ok?"

"Dunno," was the reply accompanied by a shrug.

More silence. For some reason Bumblebee didn't feel scared around this bot like he did with some of the other bots here.

After about an hour the green bot sighed, sounding rather sad which made Bumblebee feel sad too for some unknown reason.

"I suppose I better go now," the big, Bulky bot said.

_Bulky…_the word ran through Bumblebee's processor causing memories and feelings to flash.

His visitor had almost reached the door when Bumblebee said, "Bulkhead."

"What?" Bulkhead asked, turning.

"I know that your name is Bulkhead."

Bulkhead looked especially pained when he nodded his head and whispered, "That's right. My name is Bulkhead, you're Bumblebee and you're my friend."

"Friend," Bumblebee repeated slowly then brightened. "Little buddy."

"That's right; you're my little buddy."

"Did we win the race?"

The question was so simple and innocent yet it stabbed at Bulkhead's very spark. "We sure did," he whispered. "We sure did."

* * *

><p>After leaving The Asylum Bulkhead didn't return to his apartment, instead he headed for the impound lot, having seen the posters advertising that Bumblebee's ship had been found.<p>

Four hours later Bulkhead discovered why so many bots (including Bumblebee) hated beaucracy. It was a major pain in the aft but worth it as he was now the 'legal' owner of _The Smuggler._ He been so afraid that he was going to get arrested but now he was positively terrified.

He had a plan and it was very risky but if everything worked out like it was supposed to then he would long gone from this planet with Bumblebee in tow. He supposed that he shouldn't really be breaking an already crazy bot out of an insane asylum but Bumblebee had recognized him earlier that day, giving Bulkhead hope that the rest of his friend was still in there somewhere. The medics had told him that familiar things and places should help in the recovery process and what more familiar was there other than _The Smuggler._ With that thought in processor Bulkhead began to make preparations for that evening.

* * *

><p>Bumblebee had been in the middle of a very unpleasant recharge when he heard it; a sound like that of a wrecking ball knocking something over. Half-awake he stumbled over to the window and peered out into the night, his night vision automatically taking over. Bulkhead, of all bots, stood in the middle of the street looking sheepishly at an overturned waste disposal, the Cybertonian equivalent of a trashcan. "Bulkhead," Bumblebee hissed. "What are you doing?"<p>

"I, uh, came to see if you wanted me to break you out," the green bot mumbled.

Bumblebee blinked then said, "Well if you're going to break me out I suggest that you go ahead and do it again before someone comes to see what all the racket was," he indicated the buildings where lights were beginning to come on.

"Okay," Bulkhead whispered then began swinging his wrecking ball, picking up momentum as he did so.

Hurriedly, Bumblebee backed up, crouching underneath his berth and shielding his faceplate. He flinched when the wrecking ball tore into the wall opposite to him, effectively destroying the barred window and leaving behind a gaping hole. Bumblebee rose from his hiding place and peered out the hold, judging the distance to the ground before noticing that Bulkhead's wrecking ball still lay in the room. Coming to a hasty decision he clutched the wrecking ball and shouted, "Let's go, Bulky!"

Within seconds the familiar sound of the weapon being retraced filled the air as Bumblebee clung desperately to his ride, feeling a most peculiar sense of exhilaration. His timing was perfect, mere seconds before the servo was fully retracted he leapt, landing on top of Bulkhead's cranial unit.

Once he had made sure that Bumblebee was all right Bulkhead took off even as the sounds of sirens reached their audio sensors.

* * *

><p>A little while later <em>The Smuggler<em> was making her merry way as far from Cybertron as possible. Bulkhead was at the helm piloting the ship. He glanced at his shoulder strut where Bumblebee was recharging, curled up in a little ball. The big mech smiled softly and lightly ran one digit over the little bot causing Bumblebee's engine to quiet even more. The two friends stayed that way until the sun rose the next morning.

A/N: 15 reviews, will be satisfied with 10.

A/N/N: Only more chapter left.


	18. The End Is Only The Beginning

Smugglers 3: The Beginning Is The End

Epilogue: The End Is Only The Beginning

It had been many years since Bulkhead and Bumblebee's untimely deaths. During that time Optimus, Prowl, and Ratchet, along with Jazz, had turned Bumblebee's excellent business into a blooming twenty ship business. They were no longer smugglers but instead were now honest businessmen…to a certain extent that is. Instead of smuggling illegal contraband they now transported legal items between planets and galaxies. Although Jazz had protested at first saying, "I'm a smuggler. I was practically raised a smuggler. Gonna be kinda difficult to change my career after all this time but I guess I'll give it a try.

Even though their business was doing quite well the bots who had started it still hadn't retired, however, they weren't seen quite as often now that they were getting older and preferred to travel less. Today was a very rare exception as they had decided, a few days earlier, to go visit the Bassan Galaxy…for fun and because Optimus had woken up one morning feeling strangely nostalgic.

The closer they got to their destination the quieter everyone became until eventually the entire ship was silent. Not even Jazz made a single sound or played his music. In fact it eerily reminded Optimus of the first time they had entered the Bassan Galaxy a long time ago. He could remember it now….

"_A ship is approaching."_

"_Really? Maybe we can catch a smuggler today and go home."_

"_Yeah and my name's Megatron."_

Optimus smiled at the memory; remembering that fateful day, the first time they had seen _The Smuggler,_ meeting Bumblebee and Bulkhead…

His thoughts were interrupted by Prowl who said, "Prime, you might want to take a look at this."

Optimus looked up and was going to ask Prowl what was going on but the words died in his throat when he saw it.

"Man we're doomed," Jazz moaned.

"Gotta agree with him on that one," Ratchet grunted.

There, directly in front of them, was a black hole; an extremely large black hole.

"Any bright ideas?" Optimus asked hopefully.

"None," Prowl sighed heavily.

"Did anyone try reversing the engines?" the red-and-blue bot asked in a last desperate attempt.

"Won't work," Jazz called a few minutes later. "Its pull is too strong."

Mere seconds later _The Smuggler_ was pulled in and everything went black.

* * *

><p>When Optimus on-lined his optics again he quickly discovered that he was in a dark tunnel with Jazz and Prowl lying on one side of him while Ratchet lay on the other.<p>

"Where the slag are we?" Ratchet asked as he sat up, joints no longer creaking in protest.

"You are in the Well of All Sparks," a deep voice intoned from further down the tunnel.

"That's just great," Prowl said sarcastically.

"Great?" a familiar voice said excitedly. "It's terrific!"

The next thing Optimus knew he was being tackled by a very familiar feeling mech.

"You made it," Bumblebee exclaimed happily. "You took so long getting here that I thought you were never going to come. Bulky said you would though and look, now you're here and…"

Bulkhead's voice interrupted his spiel. "Bumblebee," he said warningly.

"Sorry," Bee subsided then became cheerful once more. "Wanna see my place?" he asked. "They let me design it myself."

"I tried to warn 'em but they just wouldn't listen," Bulkhead shook his head and tried to look dismal but failed.

"We'd love to see your place, Bee, but we can't until you get offa Optimus," Jazz explained.

"Oh sorry," Bumblebee apologized, hurriedly climbing off of Optimus and waited impatiently until the much taller bot had risen to his pedes, then grabbed Optimus's servo and tugged at it. "Come on," he urged.

Optimus laughed and, surrendering to the inevitable, followed the yellow minibot down the corridor, Bulkhead, Ratchet, Prowl, and Jazz right behind. Dying wasn't so bad he reflected, in fact it felt like the start of a new adventure.

THE END

* * *

><p>Dear Readers,<p>

Well I have finally wrapped up the Smugglers trilogy. I am very grateful to all of you who have read and reviewed these stories, and who have also remained my faithful readers. Alas our time together has come to an end…but not for long. On Sunday I will be posting the first chapter of 'Mixed-Up'. After I am finished with that story then I will write more, possibly even a prequel to this one, explaining Bumblebee's origins up until he met Bulkhead.

However I must first have enough reviews of this story to make 530 reviews (I would prefer 550 but will be satisfied with 530).

Thank you so much and I hope that you will continue reading my stories.

Sincerely,

Gage39


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